Coming Back to You
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: With the Author's help, Zelena escapes from her new prison shortly after she's brought back to Storybrooke by Regina and Emma and causes trouble for the heroes again in the belief that this is her last chance to get her own happy ending, before it can be decided for her. Killian, Emma, and David pay the highest price. Between season four's episodes, Mother and Operation Mongoose.
1. Chapter 1

Coming Back to You

Chapter One

 _Down within Zelena's cell underneath the hospital, where the dangerous and impenitent villains who've threatened the heroes in times past were being kept prisoners, Regina was standing in front of her wicked sister, while the Author was sitting on the bed with an open book laying out beside him and his special quill in his hand, waiting for the former Evil Queen to give him something to write. However, both women just stared at one another, one smugly and the other with coldness in her eyes._

 _Slightly having become impatient, Isaac finally cleared his throat in order to get Regina's attention and then he stated, "Well, the ink is drying. So what do you want me to do?"_

 _The dark haired woman kept her eyes trained on her sister and paused a moment, then Zelena let out a silent sigh of relief when Regina grew more sincere as she went on to answer, "Nothing. You didn't know our mother, Zelena, but I did. And yet, we both suffered. She hurt you and she hurt me, too. But our own worst enemy isn't her or each other. It's ourselves."_

 _It appeared that Regina was slowly beginning to get through to her until she was then interrupted when Robin came into the room as he asked worryingly, "Regina! Is everything all right? I've been looking all over for you."_

 _"Everything's fine," she responded calmly, looking between him and Zelena again while she spoke. "I'm so tired of standing in the way of my own happiness, and I'm not going to do it anymore."_

 _"Aw," the Wicked Witch mockingly retorted. "Another woman defining her happiness relative to the love of a man. It's sad, really."_

 _"Oh, don't get it wrong, Greenie," Regina replied with a small laugh, unaffected by her sister's taunt, and the archer kept his eyes on the woman he loved while they smiled at one another during her revelation. "Robin isn't my happy ending. My happy ending is finally feeling at home in the world. Robin's just a part of that world."_

 _She turned back to Zelena once more as she haughtily continued, "A world that you're going to be forced to watch from a distance, with the most restrictive visitation rights in history. See you at the next ultrasound."_

 _The witch just sneered, then the Author cleared his throat again and to be clear, he asked again, "So you don't want me writing anything?"_

 _"No," the Mayor answered, looking between the smaller man and Robin until she leaned in closer to kiss him. "I already have everything I need."_

 _"Well, I don't," Isaac responded and looked down at the blank pages of the book still open beside him, then used his quill to write a single sentence while Regina and Robin sustained their kiss and suddenly disappeared within a purple cloud before either of them could grasp what just happened._

 _They all turned as the page the Author had written on floated to the floor once he vanished, then in concern Robin exclaimed, "Regina!"_

 _She bent down to pick it up while with confusion and disbelief she said, "What the... No."_

 _"What does it say?" he questioned as he leaned in to read the words for himself as Regina did._

 _"Vanishing in a cloud of smoke, the Author slips away with the ink to where... Mr. Gold awaits," the former Evil Queen read coldly, then briefly looked in front of her at Zelena until she looked over at the archer again as she turned her back on her sister._

The Mayor spoke to him again in frustration saying, "So… the Author picked a side and it isn't ours. I should have known he would double cross us. But why Gold? What sort of deal did they make?"

Robin shook his head while he replied, "I don't know, but I say we ought to go to the Dark One's shop and find a way to break in if we have to. Whatever it is they want, it can't be good."

"I agree," Regina stated firmly and together they started to leave the room without another word to the prisoner until all of a sudden, Zelena pressed a taser into her sister's back which caused her to fall to the floor unconscious, but before the archer from Sherwood Forest could do anything to stop the witch, Zelena immediately did the same to Robin against his chest as he turned around while crying out Regina's name to try to help the woman he loved.

Without waiting to make sure that he was completely out cold like Regina was, Zelena quickly ran from the cell they had stuck her in just a few hours ago and while she was careful to avoid any of the rest of the heroes or anyone who would try to stop her, she left the hospital and headed immediately to Gold's shop where she knew Isaac would be thanks to the page that remained behind as he too disappeared, and Gold whose heart she knew was blackening to the point of losing he complete humanity.

Finally, she arrived at the pawnshop and reached out to touch the knob on the back door to enter inside, but her hand was swiftly shocked by magic she knew belonged to her old mentor turned enemy, magic meant to keep out anyone who came to stop him in whatever he was up to. She stared at hand with confusion, having believed it'd be safe for her to enter due to her escape, then was about to leave to find another place of refuge until the door slowly opened and saw Isaac standing there to let her inside. He didn't say a word, the Author simply motioned for her to come in and then followed her into the shop where she found the Dark One was sitting on the floor against one of the counters, looking a bit worse for wear.

"What is she doing here?" Gold asked coldly, yet feebly as well, as he was barely even able to lift up his head to look at her. "This wicked witch is less than welcome within my shop, after what she did to…"

The Author interrupted, "After what she did to you at the hospital in New York and more importantly, what she did to your son. I know. But Zelena is as important to our plans as the rest of the villains here in this town are. It's only right that she should get her own happy ending, just like you, like Maleficent and her daughter, like King George, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Bo Peep, and myself."

The Wicked Witch raised her hand in objection and then reached into the pocket of her sweater she was wearing to pull out the taser as she answered, "Wait… whatever you're planning to help all us villains get our happy endings, I want no part of it. No offense. I mean you did leave behind this shock weapon so I could break free from my sister and her nauseatingly sweet boyfriend. But even I know something as big as one happy ending, let alone one for every villain within this town, surely must come with a price for everyone your magic benefits. A price I'm not so sure I'm willing to pay just yet. At least not without the magic benefitting me the way I want it to. There is something you can do for me."

"What do you want then?" Isaac asked with true curiosity while he and Gold both kept their eyes on hers. "If you're about to ask me to use my quill and ink to kill your sister or Robin Hood, then you're going to have to settle for my way. It's far too dangerous to mess with life and death. I don't even try it. The consequences would be far too great, for us all."

"Don't worry," she responded. "Because her death by your hands isn't what I want at all. It will be me who kills her, not anyone else. What I want is for you to… first remove this infernal cuff binding my magic and then I want you to reopen the time portal I once finally created so that I can go back to my sister's past to take her life myself before she comes into her powers. She threatened to keep me from my child. I will not allow her to get away with it."

When he didn't say anything, Zelena curtly asked, "Well… What do you say, Author? Can you do it?"

The Author smiled and then he replied, "You know what? I believe I can. At least Regina would be one less hero for me to worry about."


	2. Chapter 2

Coming Back to You

Chapter Two

Emma and David carefully helped Mary Margaret to get back up to her feet once the gash over her forehead was fully healed by the Savior's magic. Then, after checking on Maleficent and Lily to make sure they were both alright as well, David and Mary Margaret walked on ahead through the woods back towards the town line, while Emma and Killian walked more slowly behind them hand in hand so each couple could have a little time alone before they arrived back within whatever chaos in town awaited them.

"Killian, I want to thank you," Emma finally said quietly as she looked over at him and ran her hand over his chest tenderly. "If it wasn't for you…"

"You have no need to thank me for anything, Swan," he immediately replied to stop her from what he believed was completely unnecessary, then changed his countenance as he looked over at her and grinned. "Not unless you wish to do so with a kiss."

She smiled at his cheekiness, but then grew serious again as she continued, "Actually, I really do have to thank you. If it weren't for you, for your words earlier on the beach even though I made it difficult for you to try to help me the last few days, I would still be angry and unforgiving of my parents. And I'm not sure that I ever would have been able to forgive them were it not for you. I would have lost them all over again. You made me see how stubborn I was being."

Killian looked ahead at both David and Mary Margaret as he answered, "I'm happy you feel this way, love. But I am certain you would have figured out your feelings within your own time. You always do."

"Maybe," the woman he loved responded with sincerity. "But you got me here a lot faster and Mom was hurt pretty badly today. She could have died and she never would have known how sorry I was. So, thank you."

"Like I said before, I only hope it's my job to protect your heart even when no one is physically trying to steal it," he replied gently. "You know how I feel about you, Emma. I will always be here to protect you."

She smiled at him with humility and then a question she has long since wanted to ask him came to mind as she asked, "What about you?"

The pirate looked over at her again in confusion as he asked in return, "What do you mean, what about me?"

"You never talk about your own parents," she stated to make herself more clear in what she wanted to know about him. "You hardly ever talk about your brother either. What were they like?"

Killian turned away from her as he lowered his head and Emma could tell that whatever had happened to his family centuries ago, it was unquestionably quite difficult and painful for him to talk about. She was about to apologize to him for prying until he stopped her before she could by putting his hook up to her lips to keep her from talking as if he read her thoughts, then looked into her eyes.

"There isn't really all that much to say," he despondently answered. "I told you of how Liam died and that we had been very close."

She nodded as she replied, "That's right. He died because of Pan. Because Pan tricked you both about the dreamshade, which killed him when he tested it on himself."

Killian shook his head, then curtly responded, "Not exactly. It was my inability to convince Liam what we were doing for our King was wrong and his own stubbornness that got him killed. Pan actually spoke the truth about the dreamshade being poison. His only contribution to Liam's death was by him not returning to allow me to repay him the price of the water despite my search for him. I had no idea then that Liam would have to remain in Neverland in order to stay alive."

"Killian, your brother's death wasn't your fault," the Savior replied sadly, using her hand to turn his head around to look her again, then began to caress his cheek when they stopped walking so they could face one another while they talked. "It was Pan's and the fault of this King of yours back then. He must have known about the dreamshade's effects if he sent you to an entirely new and dangerous realm to seek it out."

"What about your mother and father?" Emma continued when she could tell the didn't want to say any more about his brother, hoping to get him to really open up with her about his past the more he was getting to know her own as he worked to break down her walls for her.

He let out a soft sigh and then answered again, "My mother… she died too. On the night I was born as she gave birth."

She couldn't stop herself from letting out a gasp of surprise, but with concern she spoke again saying, "Oh God, Killian. I had no idea. I'm so…"

"It's all right, love," the Captain interrupted her again. "It was a long time ago and clearly I never knew her. As for my father… Honestly, I didn't actually know him like I thought I did either. He loved Liam and I… just not enough. Not enough to…"

"Here you all are!" Regina called out sternly as she and Robin came around David's truck, as well as Emma's yellow bug parked at the town line when the Charmings and Hook exited the woods. "We've been looking all over for you. What the hell is going on out here? You know what… it doesn't really matter because we've got a problem. A big green problem."

Mary Margaret looks at Regina with worry as she asked, "Is your sister alright?"

The former Evil Queen responded curtly, "She better be. Because when I find her again, I swear I'm going to kill her."

"Wait, you mean she escaped from her prison cell?" David questioned with disbelief.

"It was my fault," the archer replied to try to take the blame away from Regina. "I distracted her."

Emma rubbed her forehead in frustration, then Regina looked at those before her as she pulled out the page left behind by Isaac and nervously added, "I'm afraid it gets worse. Zelena isn't the only one who escaped. The Author did too. I was trying to decide my sister's perfect ending with Isaac there to make it happen using his gift. But then I decided I wasn't going to do anything because… well that part doesn't matter right now. My point is, Robin came in and before either of us could stop her or him, they escaped. Isaac used his power to vanish within a cloud of smoke to get to Gold just like this page says. And we didn't see that he had left behind a taser for Zelena to on us to break herself out either. She zapped us both and we were out cold for who knows how long."

Mary Margaret looked at her husband, then to her daughter and Killian, until she turned back to Regina and Robin again as she said firmly, "We need to get to Gold's shop before he and the Author do whatever it is they have planned."

"And seeing as Isaac helped Zelena to escape, she must be heading there now herself in search of protection from us," David stated after her. "Or to make a deal for her own happy ending."

"Actually, I doubt going to the pawnshop will do us any good," Emma finally answered again. "Gold will surely have put up a protection spell around it to keep us from getting in to stop them. We need to come up with another way to do it. We should all head up to the Sorcerer's Mansion to see if we can find something there that will help us. There has to be something."

Kilian nodded in agreement as he responded, "Aye. It's a good idea for sure."

Regina replied, "I agree with the one-handed wonder here and Miss. Swan. It is a good idea. I'll call Henry and have him meet us there too. He knows more about the Author and his books than any of us. Do you want me to transport us all there?"

"Actually, Mary and Margaret and I will take my truck," David answered quickly.

"And me and Killian will take my car," Emma responded as well. "We'll probably be needing them."

They all started to get into their cars, as Regina was about to poof herself and Robin to the mansion like they agreed upon. However, the earth around them began to tremble for nearly a minute until a bright golden light suddenly shot up into the sky above the trees in the direction of the old barn.

Everyone stared up at it in concern as Regina asked, "What the hell is that? It can't be."

The Savior uneasily replied, "That's exactly what it is. It's another time portal and it's coming from where she tried to open it before. Zelena must have made a deal with the Author so that he would open it again for her. We need to go."

"Allow me," the former Evil Queen answered coldly. "Gather close and hold on tight."

"Just get us there," Emma responded crossly as everyone grabbed hold of her before they all disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.


	3. Chapter 3

Coming Back to You

Chapter Three

Back in Gold's shop about twenty-five minutes ago…

Zelena smiled wickedly and then she responded, "Excellent. Let's get started. The faster I can leave this dreary and hellish place, the better."

The Author looked between her and Gold as he replied, "It's not as simple as that I'm afraid. I can't just write a single sentence telling the portal to open."

"Why not?" the witch irritably questioned. "It can't seriously be difficult for a man with your kind of power."

"As much as I'd like to believe you mean that as a compliment, I know better," Isaac answered while he stared at her with contempt. "Time portals are complicated, as you of all people know."

It was then that Gold spoke up weakly saying, "What he's trying to… to say, is that you will be need… needing all… four ingredients."

Zelena stared at them both as if they were joking with her, then the Author turned to her again as he responded, "Actually, I think Mr. Gold might know the hardships of trying to crack the time portal problem better than you. He is right, unfortunately. But… I can use my power to bring the ingredients here for you. That way, those infuriating heroes won't expect a thing or try to stop you until it's too late. You try to gather them without my help, you'll only be caught again. After that, you can transport yourself to the old barn to open the portal like you did the first time you attempted this."

"What is it you need?" he contemptuously continued. "A brain as a symbol of wisdom, a heart as a symbol of love, a baby as a symbol of innocence, and some kind of symbol to represent courage… was it?"

"We should still be able to use Prince Charming's sword," the Wicked Witch replied with frustration. "It may have been reforged, but the magic of the night root I drugged him with some time ago to bring about his fear, and therefore his courage, would not have worn off of it. It never will. The rest will be a bit trickier. While a baby would be the best kind of innocence to sacrifice, as a new mother I fear I just can't bring myself to murder any child. However, a newborn lamb would work. I have no problem with killing horrid little beasts. A brain and heart are the most difficult. It's not like you can call for them, unless you kill someone first. Which you won't do. So I have to."

Gold raised his head as he answered, "Might I suggest you get those from Dr. Whale? I don't mean… his own, but it just so happens… Whale has gone back to his old ex… periments. I happen to know he has a small… supply. A very small sup… supply."

Zelena knelt down in front of the Dark One as she responded coldly, "The problem with his supply as you call them, is that they're dead. Dr. Frankenstein only deals with the dead. What I need has to be a bit more alive."

"Not the ones that I've given him… with a bit of my own magic to help him a little," he retorted smugly. "Who they… might have belonged to once… are of no conseq… consequence to you."

"Very well," the Author finally said again as she raised herself back to her feet. "It appears we know what we need. Allow me to get to work in getting these things here."

It was then that he picked up his quill and turned to the back page of the new _Heroes and Villains_ book he was given, then spoke aloud as he wrote, " _And in this moment, these four symbols of courage, wisdom, innocence, and love appear before us from within a small force of the Wicked Witch's magic._ "

The Author then tore out the last page as he had done to the one he wrote on within the prison cell and all of a sudden, a bright green colored twister the height and size of a human being about six inches tall blew in through the back room, then vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind exactly what it was Zelena needed so that she could enact her second attempt at a time portal.

She turned to Isaac once again and then walked over to stand in front of him with her left arm raised as she stated, "Now… if I'm going to accomplish this, I'll be needing you to remove this damned cuff keeping me from using my magic. If you would be so kind?"

"Sure," he replied simply, then reached out to pull off the magic cuff which allowed Zelena to immediately feel her powers charge through her body as if they had been stripped from her and returned. "I wish you luck, Zelena. But rest assured, if you do happen to fail… I promise to keep a few pages open in my new novel just for you. Should you change your mind and need my help after all that is."

"I don't plan to fail this time," the Wicked Witch answered angrily. "These so called heroes are finally going to regret thwarting my plans time and time again. Especially my sister."

With that said, Zelena raised her hand into the air and with a flick of her wrist, she vanished within a green cloud of smoke leaving the two men behind to continue going about their own business. Once she was gone, Isaac looked down at Gold to see that he was still doing alright, then began to chortle softly.

The Dark One slowly turned his head to look at the other man and asked, "What's so funny?"

The Author shrugged and responded, "Nothing really. It's just that for someone who hates that woman and didn't want to waste time helping her, you certainly did so more than I thought you would."

"I just want… wanted to get her out of my shop," Gold replied cruelly. "Now that she's finally gone, get back to… work. Keep writing. And don't stop again."

"I won't," Isaac answered in frustration, then did as the most difficult villain he ever wrote commanded of him as he began to write again. " _The Dark One becomes a knight and hero to all who know him._ "

At the old barn…

Zelena knelt down again on the point aiming south as she placed the last symbol of love in its place, then rose back to her feet and waved her hand over the circle already carved within the ground from her first attempt to enact her spell. Bright colors began to swirl around her until finally her most powerful magic fired up through the roof above her into the skies. The Wicked Witch was minutes away from getting her own revenge, as a rift through time fought to open for the only villain to ever crack time's code.


	4. Chapter 4

Coming Back to You

Chapter Four

"Zelena, stop this!" Regina yelled as she and the other heroes suddenly appeared behind the witch within a purple cloud while she was waiting for the portal to reach its peak so she could jump into it. "We didn't let you go through with this the first time, and we're certainly not going to let you go through with it now."

"I underestimated you the last time, sis," the villainess sneered coldly when she turned around to face her enemies. "I didn't think you had it in you to be a hero then. But now I'm prepared and I will fight you."

Emma stepped forward with her hands raised, while Killian moved to stand beside her with his sword drawn as the Savior spoke saying, "You've forgotten that I have my powers again too. You can't hurt me so easily as before."

Zelena laughed and then she answered, "On the contrary. I can hurt you by hurting the man you still can't admit you love with a simple flick of my wrist or a wave of my hand. Like this."

"Hook!" Emma screamed when the Wicked Witch did just as she threatened and waved her hand to thrust Killian backwards hard into one of the barn's walls, causing him to cry out in pain when he suddenly became impaled through the back of his shoulder by a large hook that hung a couple of scythes and a spade until he fell unconscious upon hitting the ground.

"I'll take care of him," Robin called out to the Savior as he and Mary Margaret rushed to Killian so that Emma could remain standing with Regina to fight against the villain who simply laughed, while he laid his finger gently against his friend's throat. "He's alright. But you'd better end this quickly because he won't be for long."

David took Killian's place beside his daughter with one of the pirate's swords in his hands due to his own blade having gone missing, as Emma struck back against Zelena in return by propelling her through the air outside of the barn further away from the portal, then shouted angrily, "My power's even stronger than it was before you stole it from me. And I damn well will do what I have to do to stop you from hurting anyone else!"

Regina smiled upon seeing her sister sprawled out on the ground again and raised her own hands as she added, "You can't fight us all at the same time. Stop this now before we all do something we might regret. Although, I'm not so sure that I will, even if you are pregnant. I don't want to hurt either of you, Zelena…"

"You couldn't even if you wanted to," she replied when all of a sudden, four of her winged creatures, four of the heroes friends, appeared above them as they swooped down and began to attack the two women with magic and David as well, who only used his weapon against them by way of defending himself and not to hurt them. "You didn't think I came here unprepared, did you?"

"Go stop her, Emma!" the former Evil Queen called out without turning away from the beasts while her powers burst from her hands to fight against the flying monkeys as they charged her. "You have to. Or God knows what she'll do. I'll take care of our friends."

The Savior quickly nodded, then she and David moved again to stand against Zelena once more. The wicked villainess fired her powers at them first until Emma immediately countered her attack with her own as the two forces collided between them, torrents of light magic and dark magic fighting to overpower the other.

While Mary Margaret remained on the ground with Killian, Robin stood to his feet as he cried out, "Emma, be careful… our child!"

"She's not… exactly giving me much of… a choice," Emma countered weakly, as all of her strength was going in to protecting all of them against the Wicked Witch of the West while David remained close in case his daughter collapsed at the strain. "Zelena, please… don't do this."

"I will make my own happy… ending," Zelena responded. "I will steal my sister's life and… get everything I ever wanted."

Regina knocked the last of the winged creatures to the ground and immediately turned her own magic again to join it with the Savior's. Unfortunately, the forces of all three powers combined became too much and within only a matter of seconds, the three women and David were all blasted backwards off their feet as Emma and her father were suddenly thrown through the portal. The Wicked Witch and former Evil Queen were simply knocked down hard against the ground.

While Mary Margaret cried out for her husband and daughter as the portal closed behind them, Zelena screamed in rage, "No… not again!"

The archer glared at the villainess as he asked, "What the hell just happened? Where did they go?"

"Somewhere in time… again," Regina answered curtly, struggling to rise back to her feet again and then brushed the dirt off her clothes while she turned back to her sister. "Well, at least we succeeded in doing what we came here to do, sis."

"I swear I will make all of you pay for taking my last chance to right my past," the wicked woman snarled as she too rose to her feet, then angrily thrust both Robin and Mary Margaret through the air across the room where they landed near Regina, leaving Killian alone and unprotected before finally walking over to stand above him. "Starting with the Savior's filthy pirate here."

As she magiced him away to someplace unknown, Zelena continued, "Don't worry about him too much. I don't plan on killing him just yet. I will give Emma the chance to save him if she and daddy dearest ever find their way back home. Believe me, I'm hoping that they do because I will make her suffer, by making Captain Hook pay the price for the protection over her that's keeping me from killing her. She can't feel the pain if she isn't here to see it done."

Finally, the witch vanished again in her own cloud of smoke and then Mary Margaret whispered sadly, "How did we let this happen? We may have stopped her from going through the portal… but now Emma and David are trapped sometime in the past, God knows when. And Hook is wounded and now Zelena's prisoner. Who knows what she plans to do to him. What if they can't get back? What if…"

"Just try to stay calm," Regina cut her friend off before she could continue to fear the worst about those she loved. "They will find their way back. They did the last time this happened. Emma and Hook I mean. I just hope they won't bring something else back with them that could cause harm to the rest of us like they did before."

"None of that hardly matters right now," Robin replied in frustration. "I don't doubt Emma's and David's strength and resolve to get home. But surely there's something we can do from here that can help them. We can't just stand by and wait."

The Mayor looked between the man she loved and the woman who became her closest friend despite their dark pasts, then she responded, "We can help them by finding a way to help Hook. Emma would never forgive us if another man she loves dies because we failed to act."

Mary Margaret nodded and then firmly stated, "You're right. We need to get to your vault. At least maybe your magic mirror can help us to locate where Zelena's taken him. Let's go."

Only a couple of months ago…

 _"Whatever's going on in there, it can't be good," Hook said with concern as he and Emma rushed towards the barn the last time Zelena had tried to open a portal in order to find out what was happening, while the doors crackled from the force of the vast power rising above them into the skies._

 _"It's Zelena's time portal," the Savior answered quickly after she listened to the voicemail on her phone. "David left a message. Somehow she died and triggered it."_

 _She began to open the door, but Hook immediately reached out with his hand to grab her arm and pulled her back around to face him as he replied more forcefully, "Wait! We have to get out of here."_

 _Emma retorted, "Not until we find a way to close it!"_

 _"You got your magic back?" he asked brazenly, already knowing what her answer would be._

 _"No," she replied, not seeming to grasp the danger they were both about to find themselves in._

 _The pirate Captain continued with more force responding, "Well, then, we're not bloody well messing with any of this! Let's go!"_

 _Just when Emma's phone began to ring again as David attempted to call his daughter back, the barn doors swung open wide and the magic's force suddenly knocked them off their feet and pulled Emma and Hook towards the time portal. Luckily, Killian managed to anchor his hook in the ground to keep himself from falling through while he held on to Emma's hand as tightly as he could, and she to his._

 _As he could feel their grips on one another slowly begin to weaken, Hook shouted, "Hold on!"_

 _"I can't!" she cried, then her grip finally slipped and Emma was pulled in through the portal while she screamed out with fear._

 _"One of these days, I'm gonna stop chasing this woman," Killian spoke again after letting out a sigh of frustration, then he finally released his hook's tether to the ground and followed after the woman he loved through the portal just as it was about to close, so he could help her in whatever was about to come._

In the Enchanted Forest…

 _After having fallen into the past when her parents first met, it wasn't long before Emma and Killian came across Regina as the Evil Queen began to threaten a woman and the villagers standing among her, some of whom were their friends from their present time like Marco and Pinocchio, still just a small boy. Emma remained small behind the trees and surrounding forest with Hook to keep hidden, until she couldn't handle seeing the villagers and this stranger to her about to be taken away, in danger any longer._

 _The Savior attempted to rise so she could move in to interfere until Hook immediately stopped her as he uttered, "Wait, wait, wait. What are you doing?"_

 _Emma looked over at him with confusion and she answered curtly, "I'm helping that woman. She's just an innocent…"_

 _"No, Swan," Killian strongly replied to keep her from making a mistake they wouldn't be able to take back, though his face and his eyes were soft as he looked at her with sympathy. "When Belle figured out Zelena wanted to change the past, she warned us it was dangerous. Messing with events could do untold damage to all of us."_

 _"I'm supposed to let her rot or die?" she questioned him worryingly._

 _He continued as he responded sadly, "Whatever her fate, we can't interfere. Not if we want a chance at getting back to the world we know."_

 _When she finally understood, Emma spoke again saying, "We need to find Rumple."_


	5. Chapter 5

Coming Back to You

Chapter Five

When Regina, Mary Margaret, and Robin walked down into the vault, Snow immediately went to the magic mirror hanging on the wall while the former Evil Queen walked over to stand beside her, then with frustration she stated, "I'm telling you, I can use the mirror to spy on pretty much whoever I want, but its power just isn't as strong without Sidney inside of it and Zelena's always been able to block my magic to spy on her so long as she has her powers. Which she does."

It was then that Henry came running down into the room as well, as he cried, "Thank God you're here. Another time portal just opened up from the same barn where Zelena opened hers, then closed again. Did you know? How does Zelena have her powers back? I thought she was wearing the cuff. Did something happen?"

"Actually… yeah, Henry," Regina apprehensively replied. "Zelena escaped thanks to the Author and well, she somehow convinced him to reopen the time portal for her."

"So, she's gone then?" the teenager questioned, looking at his mother worryingly as he did so. "She actually succeeded in going back to a time where she can hurt you?"

Mary Margaret shook her head as she sadly responded, "Thankfully we managed to stop her this time too. But Henry, Emma and your grandfather were knocked through it before it closed. It was an accident. We were fighting Zelena and she and your mothers… their powers collided and somehow everything just went wrong. The blast knocked us all off our feet and forced Emma and David through the portal. They're go… gone. But don't worry. We are going to find a way to bring them home again. Or they'll find a way to get themselves home. You know Emma. She got home once before."

Henry sat down on one of the chests within the vault dejectedly as he answered, "Yeah. I know she did. With Hook."

"Wait, where is Hook?" the boy asked again as he looked around the room for any sign of him. "I thought he was with Mom. He'll be worried about…"

"Zelena took him," Robin interrupted. "After your mother and David disappeared. "She's angry we defeated her again and has plans to hurt Killian since she can't hurt the Savior. But we have time to find him. She won't do anything until Emma returns."

Henry glared at him as he stated curtly, "And if she doesn't? What will happen to him then?"

Regina pulled her son into a hug and replied, "I promise you, we won't let anything happen to him, Henry. That's why we've come down here. To try to come up with a plan to find where my sister's taken him. It won't be at her farmhouse. It'd be too simple and she wouldn't let a simple locator spell allow us to find them either. This town may be small, but it's far too big to search every inch of it no matter who we gather for a pirate search party."

"What if we went to someone who might be able to get around whatever protection spells Zelena might have put up to keep us away?" Mary Margaret then asked as she looked around at those inside the room with her. "She doesn't know we've got ourselves another sorceress in town and right now… Maleficent might just be willing to help us."

"You can't be serious," the former Evil Queen scoffed in disbelief. "I wouldn't trust the dragon lady with anything. Besides, she hates you Charmings more than she's ever hated anyone, even if Emma did return her daughter to her."

Emma's mother smiled as she responded, "Not anymore she doesn't. Lily attempted to leave town because she's afraid. Then her powers became out of control as she became trapped within her dragon form. David and I helped Maleficent to find her and she was able to calm her down. They're reconciling. Maleficent isn't bad anymore. I think she'd be willing to help us. We have to at least try."

Regina shook her head and then finally answered, "Fine. We'll try to reason with her. But don't say I didn't try to warn you."

Meanwhile, at Granny's Diner…

Maleficent and Lily were sitting down together in one of the booths again as they had been earlier that morning, while the few people also eating in the diner then couldn't help staring at them. Some did so with fear and the others with contempt. The two women with dragon magic simply ignored them, though Lily was struggling with it more than her mother was.

"I know being here, around all these people who love this town's heroes so much, isn't easy," the sorceress spoke quietly. "And unfortunately, I haven't really established a place of my own yet. I wasn't exactly welcome here either, seeing as I'm still a villain and was trying to help the Dark One darken Emma's heart so that we could get our happy endings ourselves without the Savior. But after awhile… I realized that doing so was wrong. Not because I suddenly began to care for anyone here. But I knew that being evil wasn't going to help me get you back. So, I enlisted Emma's help to find you. Then when you told me you were going to leave town, I turned to her parents to help me find you again."

"I'm not sure how any of this is supposed to work," Lily replied nervously, while she stared down at her hands crossed before her or around the room at the other faces, but too afraid to really look at her mother, even after their conversation within the woods. "I've never had anyone's who's ever cared about me before. At least… other than Emma until she betrayed me too. But I can't really fault her for that all the way, seeing as I ruined things for her with one of the potential families who might have adopted her. How are we going to make this work? I mean… how do you and I…?"

Maleficent smiled as she laid her hands over her daughter's and responded, "First I think we should find ourselves a better place to stay other than within the mines beneath these streets."

It was then that Granny came over to their table as she set down a tray with the food the two women had ordered, the she said curtly, "Look. I don't exactly like you and I especially don't trust you just yet either. I can't reckon I ever will. But Snow and David believe the both of you can find it in yourselves to be better, like they believed in Regina. And surprisingly that actually worked out. So, I would like to offer you both a room, to stay for as long as you like provided you don't try to kill any of us again, or continue to be villains. What do you say?"

"I think we would like that very much," Maleficent answered with sincerity as she looked up at the older woman, then back at Lily who simply nodded, then picked up the mug of hot cocoa with cinnamon, a drink Emma had once made for her long time ago as a treat.

"Good," Granny stated gruffly. "Come down to my bed and breakfast later this evening and we can get you both settled in. In the meantime, enjoy lunch on the house. However, don't either of you expect to eat for free all the time though. Welcome to Storybrooke."


	6. Chapter 6

Coming Back to You

Chapter Six

Somewhere in time…

Emma slowly began to awaken after having been knocked unconscious when they fell through the portal, as her father knelt over her and helped her to come around. When she finally did so and struggled herself to sit up, it was then that the memory of their fight against Zelena came rushing back to her. She rose to her feet as quickly as she could, as did David while they looked around them to try to figure out where or when they were. Nothing looked familiar to either of them, though Emma really has only ever been in the Enchanted Forest. While David grew up and lived within the fairytale realm most of his life until Storybrooke, not even he recognized where they've become trapped.

"No!" Emma exclaimed in fear as she began to run trying find something that could help them, while in disbelief she had been forced through another time portal. "No… no… no! This can't be happening. Not again!"

"Emma, it's gonna be all right!" David responded worryingly as he ran after her until he finally grabbed his daughter by her shoulders and spun her around to face him in order to try to calm her down. "It's gonna be all right, but we need to keep our heads if we're going to figure things out and get back home."

She stared into his eyes with despair in her own as she answered, "But Hook… he was hurt. And the last time…"

The Prince interrupted her as he assuredly said, "The last time you became trapped in the past, you came to our world without magic. But then you found it again and you and Hook found your way home. We will do so again, but you need to try to calm down and think rationally. Try not to worry about Hook. Regina will make sure that he's alright."

"You're right," the Savior replied in frustration, then took several breaths in and out to do as her father asked of her. "I'm sorry. It's just that I never thought this would happen again. And God only knows where we are. Or when. It's not like we can really ask anyone what the date is without them looking at us like we're crazy, or find a newspaper to read it from."

"It looks like we're at a seaport, though it doesn't look like one I've ever been to," he responded when he looked around again, noticing the ships docked in the harbor surrounding them, as well as the old huts and a tavern in the distance where a number pirates, sailors, and soldiers were walking drunkenly in and out of. "Not that I've been to all that many. What did you and Hook first do before when you fell into our timeline, your mother's and mine?"

Emma thought back and then answered, "We went to Rumplestiltskin's castle. Killian unintentionally made me think of Back to the Future and he asked me if Marty McFly was some sort of wizard, which…"

David smiled and nodded as he finished her thoughts saying, "Which made you think of Rumplestiltskin. I get it. I bet Hook was pretty confused by the reference. I would have liked to see that. I can only imagine how thrilled he was to go looking for the Dark One for help, given their past together."

"Gold… Rumplestiltskin almost killed him," she replied sadly when they slowly began to walk forward, though they really had no idea where they were going just yet. "We need to seek him out again. If wherever we are in time is before you and Mom met, then he should still have the wand he gave me to get me and Killian home. Like I told you, the wand has the power to recreate any magic that's ever been wielded. It can help us now if we can just find him."

"Then we're going to need to buy passage to the Dark One's castle," Charming responded in frustration as he looked towards the tavern and thought of how much he really didn't want to bring his daughter into one, knowing very well of the kind of men who were regular patrons of such establishments, then they continued walking towards it. "You were the first one of us through the portal? What were you thinking of? If you can remember, maybe it will help us to figure out when we are."

Emma shook her head as she reached up to the bridge of her nose upon feeling a headache coming on, then she answered, "I'm not really sure. I had too many thoughts on my mind really. When I was fighting against Zelena, I couldn't stop thinking of falling through the portal the last time. So it's possible we came to the same time period, though I'm not sure why we would have landed here in an old seaport. I was also worried about Killian after he was wounded and knocked out by that witch. And before all this happened he and I were having a conversation about…"

She abruptly cut herself off when they walked inside the tavern, finding themselves among the types of men and women they expected to find within one and David then stated crossly, "This was a mistake. You shouldn't be in a place like this. I should have come in alone."

"Try to relax, Dad," his daughter retorted smugly. "I've been in plenty of places just like this and some that were even worse. Hook brought me to one when we were here… or somewhere like here, before in fact."

"He did what?" David questioned sternly.

She quickly added, "We had to come. We needed to find a way to bring you and Mom back together after I screwed up. We needed to find us a ship Captain who could offer Mom passage away from here and Regi… the Evil Queen in order to make things right. Killian suggested we find him, his past self that is and then he took his place to talk to Mom while I kept past Hook distracted. It worked."

The Prince let out a small groan, then he curtly replied, "Remind me to have a talk with him about that when we get back home. Now, we need to find ourselves another ship Captain who would be willing to take us to the Enchanted Forest. I don't see…"

"Forgive the interruption, but my friend and I couldn't help overhearing your conversation since you walked in here," one of the seamen said with drunken breath, though he seemed plenty sober, from behind the two strangers out of time as David and Emma immediately spun around to face him and another, while they prepared themselves to fight should the men become hostile. "Though we didn't understand most of what you were saying…"

"What's our business to you?" David asked brusquely, keeping his eyes firmly on them both.

The sailor gave him a cruel grin, then he responded, "Relax, my friend. We heard that you and your fine looking woman here are seeking passage on a ship to the Enchanted Forest."

Realizing that these men would never understand how she and David were father and daughter, Emma decided to make up a more believable lie as she spoke again saying, "This man is my brother. We're not together like you're thinking. But aside from that, you're right. We are looking for passage. Safe passage. Which one of these men here is your Captain?"

"I'm afraid he is… isn't actually in here… at the moment," the second man answered, far less sober than the other, as he slurred his words.

"What this fool is trying to say is that our Captain has already returned to his ship," the first said again to correct him. "But if you would like us to take you to see him onboard, I'm sure that he'd be willing to come to an arrangement with you. I'm his first mate."

Emma looked over at her father in concern and reluctantly shrugged her shoulders, then she turned back to the two men as she replied curtly, "Fine. Let's go see your Captain."

As night began to fall…

The port that Emma and David had found themselves in was much bigger than it first appeared to be when they arrived, but they finally came to the ship these crewmen worked on and when they boarded by walking up the gangplank, it was clear that it was being prepared to set sail again.

It wasn't long before another man spoke out from behind the two heroes unknown to him as he called out, "Rooker! You and Jasper are late. Who is this? I don't recall telling you I was looking to take on any passengers."

"But they're looking for safe passage to the Enchanted Forest, Captain," the first mate responded without any fear of their leader whatsoever. "And they are willing to pay good money."

"We didn't tell you what we were willing to pay," David retorted tersely as he looked back at the man who brought them there, then turned back to the Captain. "We don't actually have any money we can give you. But we were hoping you would allow us to at least work for you for as long as it takes for us to get to where we're going. Not as part of your crew, but by cleaning your ship nonetheless, cooking your meals, or any other kind of work you would like us to do."

While the sailors all began to laugh, their leader shook his head and then answered, "I already have slaves onboard to do all that. I would hate to take away any and all work from them. But perhaps if you had anything of real value to trade…"

Emma was about to pull her father back so they could leave until David stopped her and pulled his sheriff badge from off of his belt, pulling it out of the leather case he kept it in, then held it out for the man to see it more closely as he replied, "Actually, this ought to be worth good money here. I didn't think of it until now, but this badge is silver and my sister and I both have one. If you grant us safe passage on your ship and perhaps even a little to eat, they're yours."

The Captain took the star in his hands as Emma pulled off her own from her shirt's lapel underneath her red leather jacket she was still wearing to hand it over to him as well, and the man in charge found the stranger to be telling the truth after he took a minute to observe the badges more closely. Finally, he raised his eyes again to look at the blonde woman before him strangely, creepily as if she was some kind of prize, and smiled.

"Very well, it appears we have ourselves an accord," he stated and pocketed them, then raised his hand out for David and Emma to shake upon making their acquaintances. "These are satisfactory. Welcome aboard the Hispaniola. I'm Captain Silver. As for having something to eat, I'll have my slaves bring some out to you. You're just in time. It's fairly fresh."

"Jones!" he then suddenly shouted, as Emma and David immediately glanced over at one another in surprise upon hearing the name.

Less than a minute later, another man who looked to be about Hook's age… the age he looked to be aside from him being over two hundred years old thanks to Neverland, walked out from below deck holding a mop in his hands until he set it down so he could turn his full attention to Silver.

Emma was about to let out a sigh of relief, as the apparent slave's name coincidentally made her think of the man she was falling in love with back home. However, someone else quickly followed as he moved to stand beside the first man and she couldn't stop herself from gasping in shock upon seeing Killian, a younger Killian with longer, messier hair tied back behind his head, shackles cuffed around his wrists, and two hands. David quickly grabbed hold of her to try to keep her from reacting any more than she already had, knowing exactly how difficult their voyage had just become.

Silver turned back to the woman with confusion as he asked, "Is everything all right?"

She immediately looked away from Killian as everyone turned to look at her as well and she nodded before lowering her head, then her father spoke for her saying, "My sister's fine. One of your men just looks a little like someone we once knew is all."

"You mean one of my slaves?" the Captain responded cruelly, as Killian also lowered his head from the newcomers out of shame upon hearing Silver's taunt. "The younger Jones is hardly one of my crew, nor will he ever be. He's unworthy of being anything other than the scum he is. His brother on the other hand could have the potential of becoming something more. If he would just realize his brother is nothing more than deadweight to him."

"You both are to serve supper beginning with your Captain and our guests," he continued when he turned back to the men he called his slaves, while Emma fought to keep her anger towards the Captain in check by clenching her fists so tightly that her fingernails began to cut into her palms. "Then you're to serve the rest of the men and finish your earlier orders before you settle down for the night. Liam, you're free to eat. But your brother is to continue to go without. Is that understood, boy?"

Killian simply nodded while Liam answered for them both of them as he answered, "Yes Sir, Captain."

David noticed his daughter was hurting herself in trying to keep from lashing out, then moved in front of her and helped her to sit down on the deck within one of the ships corners while he whispered sternly, "Emma, I know how hard this is, but you can't let your hate for the Captain show. And you can't give away how you feel for Hook… Killian either. He hasn't even become a soldier in the Royal Navy yet, so it seems. Which means…"

"Which means we're much further back in time than we thought and Gold hasn't even become the Dark One yet either," she interrupted brusquely, keeping her voice low so that no one could overhear their conversation. "Killian said his brother died and that he was already a pirate before he met Rumplestiltskin the first time, before he was… the Dark One. Whoever is now, it'll be much harder to convince him or her to help us. And I doubt they'll have the wand."

"If the two of you would like, I'd be honored to have you join me for supper down in my quarters where we'd all be much more comfortable," Captain Silver then said as he came to stand over them after David too took a seat beside Emma.

Emma looked up at him and replied sternly, "Thank you for the offer. But we're fine right here. We're not worthy enough to eat with the ship's Captain either."

The leader saw the coldness in her eyes, but he just smiled as he stared down at her and then responded, "I apologize if you're offended by how I treat my slaves, Miss…"

"Leia," Emma immediately answered when he started to ask for her name, remembering how she had used the same alias before with Killian while in her parents' timeline. "My brother is James."

"Well, Leia… this is my ship and I will treat my slaves however I see fit," Silver continued. "You both are my guests and therefore you're welcome to go anywhere onboard that you wish, so long as you do not to go anywhere near them unless they're serving you. Have I made myself clear?"

She uttered the words under her breath as she replied, "Yes, Sir."

When Killian and his brother whom Emma knew was named Liam came over to serve the newcomers the supper prepared, the sun had finished setting and the Hispaniola had begun to set sail. Liam knelt down before David to serve him, while his younger brother did the same for Emma, though he could barely look at her. He wasn't the same man she knew within their own time, and he wasn't the same man he was when they first met a few years ago. The Savior could only see a broken man who was just as lost as she had been until she had truly found her family and home, thanks to her Killian.

As he handed her a tray of food, meager in portions, he suddenly caught the beautiful woman staring at him strangely, as if she somehow knew him and cared about him. He cleared his throat and quickly looked away again, while Liam looked between Emma and his brother upon noticing the exchange between them.

Killian nervously stated, "I'm sorry about the filth on my hands, milady. It seems no matter how hard I… Please forgive me. I shouldn't be speaking to you."

"Wait," she responded swiftly, reaching out to grab his left hand as he was about to stand in order to walk away. "Please."

"I can't," he answered more curtly than he meant to.

Emma then picked up the piece of bread from her tray and held it out for him to take as she replied, "It's okay, you can take it. Surely you could use it more than me."

Liam rose back to his feet and moved to stand behind his brother in hope of shielding Killian from Silver's view while the younger Jones kept his eyes on the only other person to ever show him any kindness in his life, as he responded quietly, "No. Thank you, milady. You are very generous. But no food was the Captain's orders. I need to be better at following them."

Killian finally did rise back to his feet so he could walk away. But as he did so, he suddenly stumbled when a dizzy spell came over him and Liam immediately caught him to keep him upright, while Emma and David both instinctively attempted to do the same. Killian pulled himself free of his brother's grip, then continued to leave without a word.

"How long has he been without food?" Emma quickly asked the older man upon recognizing that his dizziness was caused from hunger, before Liam could follow after him.

"Four days now," he spoke up again sadly, though he was surprised by this woman's concern, and nervous about the strange enchantment she seemed to put over his brother from the moment they locked eyes on one another. "With more days to come no doubt. Killian's only been given enough water to keep him from falling ill."

David reached out to take his daughter's hand and then he turned back to Liam again as he questioned, "What did he do to deserve this kind of punishment?"

The older Jones turned to him too as he answered, "Nothing. Silver's never needed an excuse to punish my brother. He's always just hated him because Killian is more defiant and stubborn than I am, ever since we were first abandoned by our bastard father sixteen years ago and forced into servitude under someone else. Until we fell into the hands of another, more ruthless pirate six nights later. We've been with Silver ever since."

"Killian's been trying harder to keep himself in line, ever since I gave up my chance of freedom to protect him… because of something he did a few days ago," Liam despondently continued as tears came to Emma's eyes, though she struggled to hold them back. "Now he's protecting me as well. The Captain has noticed. Silver's been trying to get him to break. There's a lot of good in Killian, but much darkness in him too because of what our father did to him. To us both. I fear it's only a matter of time before he does break."

"I'm so… so sorry," Emma remorsefully replied, until Liam was called away by the cruel pirate when he finally noticed his older slave was still talking with their guests and she finally turned her head to look over at her father. "Killian never told me. Why couldn't he tell me?"

David looked at her sadly as he laid his hand over hers and then said, "Because he's ashamed. You need to try to keep it together, Emma. I'm afraid there might be a lot more we're going to learn about him that's going to be painful."

She laid her head on his shoulder, then choked back a sob as she whispered, "You're right. And I can't help him."


	7. Chapter 7

Coming Back to You

Chapter Seven

Days before Emma's and David's arrival, over two hundred years ago…

 _Liam finally returned from the Naval sign up the next morning with two pieces of paper in his hands and when he walked down the docks alongside the ship, then paused upon finding the vile man he wanted to talk to standing before him, Liam zealously called out, "Captain Silver! Two papers of service. I'm pleased to tell you the Brothers Jones will be leaving your employ."_

 _Silver turned to face the much younger man while he smugly stated, "Well, one of you, at least."_

 _"What?" the older Jones questioned, not exactly understanding the Captain's meaning until he realized that something was wrong with his brother. "What's happened? What did you do to Killian?"_

 _"All I did was offer him a drink," Silver answered as he looked down to where Killian was sprawled and passed out drunk with an empty bottle of rum in his hands in his small corner of the deck. "The rest he managed all by himself. He's not much of a gambler."_

 _Liam ran onboard to his brother, then leaned down before him while he agitatedly searched Killian's garments for his money pouch and shook him awake as he cried out to him in worry, "Killian! Where's his silver? What have you done with your money?"_

 _When he found the pouch and found it empty as he feared he would, the older brother curtly shoved it back into his hand and with frustration he said, "You gambled."_

 _"I'm sorry, brother," Killian responded groggily, as he struggled to come out the haze from his drunken stupor the night before, shaking the coin purse for himself to find it was indeed empty._

 _"You bastard!" Liam shouted at Silver in anger when his master callously began to count Killian's coins that now belong to him in order to taunt both of his slaves, especially the younger one who looked towards the Captain with shame only for himself._

 _Silver kept his eyes on Liam while he cruelly replied, "I'm not responsible for his weakness. And you still have your money. If you want my advice, cut anchor. Leave the dead weight behind."_

 _Liam turned back to his brother as Killian sighed from behind him and then spoke again saying wearily, "Just do it. Liam, go. I can never be the brother you deserve."_

 _"We're to set sail, Jones," the Captain continued. "It's either the Navy or more grain runs with your favorite Captain."_

 _"Then grain runs it shall be," he answered miserably after he took a few moments to look at the papers in his hands, then walked over to the side of the ship._

 _Killian knew what Liam was about to do as he desperately tried to stop him by calling out, "No."_

 _Liam ignored him as he tore the parchments in half, then threw the pieces into the water and without turning back around, the older Jones responded steadfastly, "Come hell or high water, I cannot leave my brother."_

In the present past…

Once his slaves finished serving the nightly meal to both the newcomers onboard, as well as to the rest of his crew, Silver ordered one of his men to bring the older Jones down to his quarters so they could talk in private. It didn't take more than a few minutes before Liam knocked on the door and entered upon receiving permission to do so.

"If you wish to speak to me of why I lingered to talk with our guests aboard after we gave them supper, I…" Liam began to state until he was interrupted.

"Relax, Jones," the Captain replied calmly, then sat up more from where he was sitting in the chair at his desk while his slave continued to stand. "I didn't ask you to come down to punish you for talking to them, though I should punish to your brother. However, I'm willing to let it go because we do have guests onboard. So long as the whelp doesn't ever speak to either of them again. Don't think that I didn't see how he and this, Leia looked at each other. There's something about that woman and I don't like it. I told her and her brother we would take them to the Enchanted Forest and I will keep my word. But you're to keep your brother away from them both, no matter what. I won't have that woman put ideas into his head that will make him begin to believe he's anything more than the slave he is. If I catch him going anywhere near her, or even looking in her direction again, I will punish him. Do you understand?"

The younger man nodded and then answered coldly, "Yes Sir. Is there anything else you wish to speak with me about?"

Silver smiled and stood to walk around the desk, then began to rifle through his charts and maps as he responded, "In fact… there is something more. I've just received a request from the King, who seeks something of great value."

"And our King has hired a pirate for this voyage?" Liam questioned in disbelief, though he quickly bowed his head by way of indicating he was wrong to do so.

"Only a pirate Captain of my caliber has the courage and skills it'll take to find us what the King wants," the slave master replied proudly. "And His Majesty understands this. As soon as we rid us of these strangers, we will then continue on our new voyage. I was hoping you could help out a little with the navigation. It always helps to have two sets of eyes and this crew isn't exactly the brightest when it comes to being cunning and daring, which is what we will need to be."

Liam looked down at the charts, then back to Captain Silver as he answered, "Killian is by far the better navigator. If you want confirmation…"

The pirate cut him off before Liam could finish and cruelly responded, "I wouldn't trust your brother with even the easiest of voyages, boy. And come to think of it, I realize now that I can't trust you either because of your blind devotion to that deadweight. Just keep him away from the woman. And Liam…"

"What?" the older Jones asked angrily, spinning around to face the bastard again after he had started to leave.

"Don't fail me," Silver replied as he gripped Liam's shoulder and squeezed it roughly make his point more clear. "Because if you do, Killian's punishment will be far worse. Since he'll be paying for your mistake as well as his own. You're dismissed."


	8. Chapter 8

Coming Back to You

Chapter Eight

Zelena entered into a dark entryway carrying a tray of food, then stopped to look up at the long, narrow and winding stairwell made of wood and let out a frustrated growl with a roll of her eyes. Instead of climbing the stairs as she's done most of the times since arriving there, another place to hide away the things she didn't want the heroes to ever find, the witch simply waved her hand to poof herself up to the room at the top. She pulled a set of keys from beneath her shawl and used them to unlock the door, then entered inside a nearly empty room where Hook was now bound and gagged within the far corner of the room.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," she stated callously upon seeing the pirate slowly beginning to come around while he struggled to sit up when she entered, then set the tray down on the floor in front of him. "Don't worry. It isn't poison, the wound in your shoulder from your impalement earlier is healed, and I was even kind enough to bring you some aspirin for the headache you undoubtedly feel."

"I also brought the rum," Zelena added as she quickly tossed the small bottle of pills down to him as well, then used her magic to summon two glasses and a bottle of rum into her hands. "Would you like some?"

Killian glared up at her once he was sitting up against the wall and Zelena bent down to pull out the cloth gag so that he could talk, then he spoke up curtly saying, "It appears you've lost, again. But where's Emma and the others? What the hell am I doing here?"

The Wicked Witch laughed as she took a sip of the alcohol after pouring herself a tall glass, then she replied angrily, "It's funny what happened actually. Well it isn't really, but for you… It turns out, your Savior and my sister thwarted my plans to use my portal for a second time like you trusted they would. But the funny thing is, Emma and her father were the ones pulled through it this time. Maybe they'll find their way back like you and Emma did before. I don't know, nor do I really care too much. You're dead either way. But if the Savior does return home, then I prefer to kill you in front of her. Why else do you think I healed your wound just enough to keep you alive now?"

"Perhaps it was out of the goodness of your heart," he sarcastically answered and then kicked the tray of food away from him with his foot, refusing to eat. "Wait, I forgot. You don't actually have one. At least not one that isn't rotten. Thanks for the food, but I'll pass."

"Suit yourself," she responded as she sat down on the only chair in the room and began to eat her own meal she made for herself. "I was only trying to be hospitable. If you're hoping that the rest of your friends are going to come bursting in here to save you, Captain… I'm afraid you're wrong. They have no idea where we are, or that this place even exists. My sister can't use her mirror magic to find either of us because I have my magic back, and no locator spell will work either."

Hook let out a small laugh of his own, then replied, "It amazes me how you have yet to accept that you've been beaten. Emma has defeated you before time and time again, along with Regina. So long as you remain a villain, you will never get your happy ending. You have to earn it. And no amount of magic will change that."

Zelena haughtily retorted, "And you truly believe that you're no longer a villain? That you're a hero just like Emma or her parents? Do you not still think of cruel, terrible thoughts about someone you hate? Or lust for your revenge on the demon who murdered your first love and cut off your hand?"

"I don't know if my story will end happily or not," Killian answered honestly. "I can't deny those vile thoughts do enter my mind. But I don't act on them because it would mean that I'd lose everything I have worked so hard to build for myself. I would lose Emma and I won't do that. I know that I'm no longer a villain. And I have marks in the hero column, but whether or not I'm a hero… You'd have to ask everyone else to see what they say about me if it really matters to you that much. Perhaps you ought to talk to your sister. I see her as a hero, as do Emma, Snow White, Prince Charming, and Robin Hood. But I'm not so sure she does. She did lose the man she loves once. And I fear losing the woman I love. But none of this does matter to you, does it? Don't you have someplace better to be? Surely sitting here talking to me about anything and everything can't be the best thing you could be doing."

"If you think that you can try to escape the moment I leave again, forget it," the witch coldly responded, then stood up from where she was sitting in order to kneel down in front of the pirate. "These ropes are enchanted, Captain. A gift I learned from my old mentor. Any attempt to free yourself from them, the tighter they become. So I suggest you don't try to struggle against them. Or you might end up dying sooner than either of us want."

She then stood again and walked over to the door as she said again, "Now, I do have some place I need to be. So I guess I will be seeing you later. And I suggest you at least take a few of the pills I tossed you earlier. Your aches and pains are bound to get worse the longer you're here. Because when I return, we will then have ourselves a little bit of fun."

"I don't suppose you could undo the cap?" he arrogantly called out to her as he held up the aspirin bottle before she could disappear. "You know, me being one-handed and even without my hook. I suppose you've taken it away from me. It makes it rather difficult to get into the bottle through the safely lock."

"If you want the pain to go away, you'll figure it out," Zelena stated, then vanished and Killian tossed the bottle of aspirins across the room in anger, having no real intention of ever taking them despite his pain.

Even though the movement wasn't an attempt to try to loosen his bonds, the ropes around his chest slightly tightened, as did the ones keeping his arms and legs together. Hook let out a curse, but his anger wasn't really because of the bottle cap. His anger was geared towards his own inability to be there for Emma during the fight he had been taken down in so easily before it even began, and the Wicked Witch responsible for the Savior's and his friend's banishment into another time.


	9. Chapter 9

Coming Back to You

Chapter Nine

Silence fell heavy between Emma and David after they had been served the supper prepared by the crew's cook. David noticed his daughter had hardly eaten much of anything while she picked at the food on the tray. It wasn't that the stew, stale bread, and cheese they were served was too terrible. He understood all too well she was having a hard time coming to terms with seeing the man she loved, the truth she had yet to admit to herself, in such a tragic state. He himself couldn't believe that his friend, who had been a ruthless villain when they first met, had first grown up a slave within the hands of a more vile pirate than himself.

Eventually, she gave up on trying to eat all together and set the tray down beside her, then stood up to cross the deck to the side of the ship as she began to look out among the ocean waves surrounding them. Not knowing when they were going to get another meal, David finished what he was given, then he moved to the ship's side behind Emma and slowly rubbed his hand over her back to try to comfort her. At first, her only reaction to him was when she reached out to lay her hand on top of his.

Emma turned her head to look over at him finally and then spoke up saying, "I can't understand why the portal would send us here. We're trapped two hundred years in the past… in Killian's past that I never knew about. He never told me any of this. Before Regina and Robin interrupted us as we were walking back towards town, we were talking. It was because of Killian that I was able to see how badly I was hurting you and Mom by refusing to forgive you. I was also hurting myself."

David looked out over the ocean, then back to her again as he quietly responded, "I suspected as much, but he didn't say anything. He just smiled and looked away. How did he do it? I mean, what did he say to you to help you?"

 _"What are we lookin' at?" Emma finally asked after they walked there and sat for several minutes in silence._

 _"The horizon," Hook stated as he motioned his head to have her look in the distance before them._

 _She did so, but quickly asked in confusion, "Is it doing something?"_

 _Hook turned his head back to look at her as he replied, "Well, I just thought you'd find it calming."_

 _"It is," Emma answered. "So is rum."_

 _"Emma, I can tell that your heart is uneasy," Killian said again gently, concerned that there was nothing more he could do or say to help ease her pain. "And it's my job... Well, I hope it's my job, to protect your heart, even when no one is physically trying to steal it."_

 _Emma looked at him as she responded with confidence, "You don't have to stop me from going after Gold. I'm smarter than that. He didn't turn my heart dark, and I'm not gonna fall into one of his traps."_

 _Hook looked down, then back at her once again and replied, "I'm not worried him getting to your heart. I was talking about your parents."_

 _"Oh, we talked about this," she spoke with a sigh._

 _"I talked, you walked away," he retorted and then continued to speak the harsh truth he knew she needed to hear. "I just wanna know, is anything gonna be enough? Or are you willing to lose them just to spite them?"_

 _Emma turned away from him as she held out her hand and answered, "Gimme back the rum."_

 _Hook did as she asked and then continued on even when she tried to interrupt him, not giving her the chance to do responding, "They've done a lot of good. Turned themselves into heroes. Yes, I know they didn't own up to what they did. But did you ever think maybe they were ashamed? And they wanted you to like them."_

 _"I'd like them more if... I'd known they turned themselves around," she replied in frustration. "I like when people find their good hearts along the way."_

 _He grinned timidly and rolled his head, then answered sincerely, "They were trying to protect you, Swan. Twice. Before you were born, they wanted to make you happy. And when they found you again, they wanted to make you proud. Do you want both those to be failures?"_

Emma finished recalling her conversation with him down at the harbor while they overlooked the ocean and horizon like Emma was doing with her father now, then she continued, "Killian believes that I would have eventually forgiven you and Mom on my own, but… I'm not so sure."

"Hook was right," Charming responded sincerely and then turned to face her directly. "But it doesn't make me any less grateful to him for helping you."

"I also asked him about his family," she stated. "He spoke a little of his brother. About how he still blames himself for his death. They really were close. I hate the fact that you and I both know what's going to happen to him and later to Killian, yet we can't do anything to alter either of their futures. Killian warned me of the dangers of trying to do so when we went through the first time portal and yet I still made the mistake of bringing Marian, or Zelena back with us. And look what happened. But how the hell am I supposed to sit back and stay silent while that bastard Silver treats Killian like a slave?"

David then gripped his daughter's hand more tightly as he firmly replied, "As despicable as it is, Emma… he is a slave in this time. We can't change his past no matter how much we want to. Everything has to remain as it is."

Emma nodded in compliance, then turned her head upon seeing Killian come back out onto the deck from below carrying two buckets of what she and David could only imagine was waste. The pirates surrounding them all began to jeer and mock him while he worked, making Emma want nothing more than to use her powers to throw them all overboard. Killian struggled to ignore them, as he carefully set the buckets down so that he could pick one up at a time and dumped the filth over the side, then did the same with the second pail. When he bent down again to collect the other one before heading below deck again, Killian glanced over at Emma as their eyes met and Emma could see the despair and hate for himself within them even from several feet away. He quickly turned away and walked off.

Emma looked at her father as she spoke up saying, "If we weren't interrupted when Regina came to tell us about Zelena… From the sadness in his eyes, I could tell that Killian was going to say something about his past that troubled him very deeply. When we fell through the portal, I was thinking about him. Aside from being afraid for him after seeing him get hurt, I must have been hoping I'd have the chance to find out what he wanted to tell me."

"Well, maybe falling into Hook's past is the portal's way of revealing what it was," the Prince answered as he went over to pick up the food she didn't eat and then held the tray out to her again. "I know the food is… well it's pretty awful really. But we need to eat so we can to keep up our strength. Who knows how long we'll be trapped here and it's going to be rough, especially for you so long as Hook is around. Once we get to the Enchanted Forest and get away from here, things will be easier. But even then, we're going to have to hunt for our food until we find whoever the Dark One is. And after."

"Killian and I did it, as Mom and I did while we were trapped in the Enchanted Forest in the present day," Emma whispered calmly. "I can do this, Dad. I'll be fine. I have my magic this time to help us with whatever we need. And to protect us."


	10. Chapter 10

Coming Back to You

Chapter Ten

After Killian made multiple trips up to the deck carrying and emptying the waste buckets, then finished bringing down the last of the dirty dishes used by the crew into the galley and dropped them into the tub to wash them, Liam entered the room behind his brother and grabbed him roughly by his arm to turn him around to face him. The younger Jones was about to ask what was wrong, but Liam quickly put his hand over his brother's mouth to cut him off as he glanced towards the entryway and around the room to make sure they were alone before he released him.

"No one's in here," Killian stated as he shoved Liam away from him, then glared at him. "What'd I do this time?"

"Something I should have stopped the moment you opened your mouth," the older brother answered curtly, even though he hated being so cold towards Killian. "You're a fool if you think that woman up there is being kind to us for any reason other than to be hospitable. You can't speak to her again so long as she's onboard. Don't even look at her."

Killian looked at him with confusion as he replied, "Why the bloody hell would you care? Of course she's only being hospitable. She and her brother are guests onboard a ship full of ruthless pirates. I'm a slave, Liam. I haven't forgotten it. Why do you think I left so quickly? Is it really so terrible that I find her attractive? It's not like I would ever act on it. But what does it matter to you if I actually thought for a moment she could have been being kind for…"

Liam interrupted, "Push those thoughts out of your head right now. You can't. She doesn't and never could like you. I'm not trying to hurt you, Killian. You know that it's the last thing I ever want to do. I'm only saying this for your own good."

"Reminding me I'm worthless and that the only person in this world who will ever care whether or not I'm alive or dead is you is for my own good," the younger brother miserably responded as he turned his back on the other man, then began to fill the wash basin with the fresh water he had boiled to clean the dishes. "I see."

"You know that's not what I mean," Liam answered after he let out a sigh of frustration. "Captain Silver threatened your life, Killian. He noticed how you and that woman were looking at one another. If he even so much as catches you looking towards her direction, the punishment will be severe. Even more than usual. And what if he decides to make her and her own brother walk the plank. Silver doesn't like or trust her. You could cause her to lose her life too and I know you don't want that."

Killian paused as he turned his head in Liam's direction without actually looking back at him, then replied quietly, "I understand. Don't worry about it. She'll be gone within two days time and I'll never have to think about her again."

Liam gently laid his hand down on his brother's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, then with remorse he responded, "I am sorry, little brother."

"I think you mean younger brother," he said quietly in order to correct him. "Neither of us have been little for a long time now."

"You're right about that," the older Jones answered and then continued to help Killian with the chores.

The Hispaniola was a few days from reaching the Enchanted Forest and the voyage has only grown more uneasy for both Emma and her father while they remained onboard trying to avoid Silver, as well as the rest of his crew. A number of the pirates allowed themselves to get sozzled and the drunker they became, the more they had begun to hit on Emma and even to go so far as to attempt to ask her if she'd sleep with them. It made Emma sick and David angry. However, it wasn't until two evenings later that the situation grew out of hand.

David was standing on the upper deck speaking with Silver per the Captain's request while he steered the ship, as they talked about the land where the two guests were from. This was Silver's attempt to try to understand what it was about these stranger he didn't like, except that the man he didn't know was really a Prince didn't go into specifics about Storybrooke or about who lived there, and especially not about the fact that they were from another time entirely. All David could really say was that his land was small and secluded from the rest of the world. It wasn't a lie and the Captain didn't question him more about it. Instead they continued to talk about Silver's life as a pirate.

Meanwhile, Emma was finishing the afternoon meal after it had been served to her by Liam, who barely even looked at her as he did so. Yet he did speak to her enough to mention that Killian had finally been given permission to eat again, having noticed that she's been looking all over the ship in hope of getting a chance to see that his younger brother was alright. Liam was grateful that she cared, yet he continued to be suspicious of her motives as she was nothing, but a beautiful stranger to them.

When she bent over to set the dirty dishes after she finished eating down on the floor of the deck near the mast she had taken to staying while they remained onboard, three of Silver's men appeared behind her as they began to heckle her until one of them reached out to trace his finger along her spine. Emma immediately batted his hand away, then shoved him backwards against the side of the ship. Out of instinct, she raised her hands to use her magic against them, but quickly remembered she couldn't risk it unless it became absolutely necessary. David was unaware his daughter was in trouble.

She slowly lowered her hands again and backed up towards the side herself while the cruel drunkards started to advance on her, surrounding her like she had become their prey, then she spoke up coldly saying, "Back away and leave me alone, or so help me…"

One of the men cut her off as he sneered mockingly, "What will you do, pretty? What could you possibly do to…?"

All of a sudden, Killian appeared behind them when he swiftly struck down one of the one closest to Emma with a single punch to his head as the man was about to throw himself over her to kiss her, then grabbed hold of another by the front of his shirt and fought with him until Killian was able to throw him overboard. Emma cried out for him in fear and when David heard the commotion from above them, he ran down to try to help his daughter. Unfortunately, the third of the men came up behind Killian, as did several more of the pirates, and they held him while he struggled to break free of their grasp. Once their Captain came down behind the man they believed was the woman's brother, the pirates pulled Killian between them, then shoved him down to his knees at Silver's feet and held him before him. Emma struggled to go to him, but her father held her back.

"What happened here?" Silver finally asked, glaring down at the younger of the two slaves, while Killian did the same as he glared up at him too. "Speak!"

"This bastard broke my nose and threw Boyle overboard, Captain," the man Killian had struck first replied angrily, then bent down to punch the slave hard in his back just as Liam appeared amongst the crowd and struggled to get to his brother through the crowd surrounding him. "We were only talking with the lady and he came out of nowhere to pick a fight."

Emma shouted, "That's a lie! He was protecting me because your men got themselves too drunk and thought they could hit on me. One of them tried to attack me, but Kill… this man stopped him."

The older Jones looked between Killian and Emma until he turned to the Captain again as he nervously responded, "Captain, please. My brother would never attack your men without good reason. I beg you, please don't punish him."

"I thought that I made it perfectly clear to you what would happen if he were to go anywhere near this woman, Liam," Silver answered brusquely. "He defied me again even if he was just defending her honor. And now he will be punished for it. You should have been more cruel when you warned him, rather than coddle him as you always do when you try to protect him from himself. Men, string him up! Don't bother with removing the shackles first. Bind him to the main mast and bring out the lash."

"No!" Emma cried out again while David continued to struggle to hold her back even more as the pirates pulled Killian to his feet again and dragged him over to the mast to do as their Captain ordered. "You can't…! Stop!"

While Liam remained standing where he was a few feet away from the strangers and bowed his head in despair over what was about to happen, David spun his daughter around to face him again if just to keep her from staring at the terrifying scene before them and held her tightly as he whispered bleakly, "Emma… You have to calm down. I know you're scared, and… and angry you can't help him. Believe me, so am I. You have magic and you can't even use it, I know. But remember, you can't change what happens to…"

The Savior interrupted him furiously until she quickly lowered her voice again as she snapped, "But we've already changed it! This wasn't supposed to happen to him. Yet it is because I messed up… again. We never should have stayed onboard this ship after we discovered Killian was here. We could have found someone else to get us to the Enchanted Forest. There were other ships there at that port."

"You're right, but we can't go back now," her father quietly replied in worry as he pulled her into his arms and held her close, then laid his hand over the back of her head to try to comfort her the only way that he could. "This is not your fault, Emma. It isn't. Hook would tell you this if he could. Our Hook I mean. And surely Killian now would too."

"I... Dad," she responded softly, then buried her head in the crook of his neck and began to weep silently despite her struggle to hold her pain inside, especially when the first crack of the whip struck Killian's back as he let out a small cry in effort to stifle his own anguish.

Liam turned his head to look back at the strangers coldly while his brother's beating continued, not having heard a word they had spoken amongst themselves. He didn't say a word to them and within a few minutes, he just walked away to leave them be. The older Jones moved to stand off to Killian's side several feet away from him until Silver and the crew were finished punishing him, hating himself for being unable to anything to help him while he waited.

Finally after twenty lashes, Silver shouted for his first mate to stop their brutality, then tuned his head and nodded towards Liam to indicate they were done. He then simply headed back to the upper deck to take over the wheel again while the rest of the crew went about their business and fun as if nothing ever happened. Immediately, Liam took the dagger that was handed to him by the ship's first mate and used it to cut his brother down as he took all of Killian's weight against himself when he collapsed into his arms. The younger man was conscious still, but only just. Even though Emma and David wanted to help the brothers as Liam carried Killian below to tend to his wounds, they didn't dare move to do so, knowing that Killian's anguish now was because he had conversed with Emma and had tried to help them in the first place.

So, Charming helped his daughter to sit down, then sat beside her as he took her hand within his own while neither of them spoke again for the rest of their voyage. It wasn't long before exhaustion and weariness, despite her struggle to remain awake in fear of the images she knew would haunt her mind, overpowered Emma's anguish over having to witness the man who loved her so deeply suffer to keep her safe, even in a time when he didn't know who she was. Finally, she laid her head down in her father's lap as she slowly fell into an uneasy sleep. David simply rested his head back against the mast behind him and tried to do the same, knowing they both needed the rest before the long walk ahead of them among treacherous terrain within a world two hundred years younger.

The only problem was, they had no idea where they were heading anymore. Rumplestiltskin wasn't the Dark One yet in this time and they didn't know who was, let alone where he could be found. He could only hope that the people living within the Enchanted Forest now knew of him as well as Rumple was known. And perhaps if they headed in the direction of his castle like Emma and Killian had done before, they would be lucky enough to find the answers they sought.


	11. Chapter 11

Coming Back to You

Chapter Eleven

Back in present day Storybrooke…

Both Regina and Mary Margaret finally agreed that it would be better for the two of them to go speak with Maleficent and Lily on their own, not really sure how the women between good and evil would react to them coming so soon for help after Mary Margaret and David had only just made things right for them. When they left the vault, Robin and Henry stayed behind so they could continue to look for any other ideas that might help Killian. It was times like these that the fifteen year old really felt helpless and he hated it.

Robin noticed the boy's frustration when Henry slammed his fist against one of the walls beside him and so the archer quietly closed the book he was looking in, then turned to Henry as he spoke up saying, "I wish there was something I could say to help make you feel less scared for Emma, David, and Killian, but… Well, I'm not either one of your mothers. Regina and Mary Margaret pretty much told you all we could say. Except that I'm sorry all this had to happen."

Henry nodded his head in frustration and then he replied, "Nothing here is going to help us find Hook. And I'm never going to be able to help Mom and Grandpa by researching a bunch of books stuck here in my mom's vault either. I've looked through these dozens of times. There's nothing in them that can help us open a time portal, or that will reverse the magic to bring them back home. Zelena is hiding and even Mom can't find her using magic. So what good are we doing?"

"We're not giving up," the archer calmly responded while he laid a hand down on the teenager's shoulder in an effort to reassure him everything would work out. "That's what's most important. You're not helpless. You've helped to save us plenty of times and we all believe in you. You just need to calm down and try to think."

"But what do we focus on first?" Henry asked curtly as he finally turned his head to look over at his friend and the man dating his adopted mother. "There are three crises going on right now, remember? Grandpa and Isaac are still planning to write happy endings for all of the villains, including one for Zelena since she failed. God knows what that means for the heroes."

Robin thought for a moment and then answered, "Perhaps that's the problem we really should be focusing on. Regina and your grandmother are working to find Killian. And I know Emma and David are doing all they can to find their way home. So, why don't you and I head to the Sorcerer's mansion like we originally planned to begin searching through all those books the Author left there?"

Henry let out another sigh of frustration, then he replied, "It's the best idea yet. But we can't give up on trying to find Killian all together."

"Never," the man from Sherwood Forest responded firmly. "He's my friend too and I'll do whatever I can for him. Besides, I owe myself a chance to make Zelena pay for all she did to me and for killing my wife. Let's go."

Meanwhile…

Maleficent and Lily left the diner and began to walk down the street while the dragon sorceress's daughter kept her eyes around her. Maleficent continued to do most of the talking between them, until she saw the younger woman stop as she began to stare at the black evening dress in one of the shop's windows.

"Lily, are you alright?" Maleficent asked in concern until it donned on her what her daughter's reason for stopping was. "It's a beautiful dress, isn't it?"

She suddenly felt embarrassed upon allowing her mother to see her in another vulnerable moment and she quickly answered, "Yeah. I mean… it's nice of course. I'm not sure why I stopped. It's silly. Let's keep waking."

The older woman reached out to turn her daughter around to face her as she replied, "It's all right, sweetheart. I understand why you like it. You've never owned something that was so expensive or elegant like this dress before. Have you?"

"I tried stealing clothes once from some department store when I was in New York for awhile, but I got caught," Lily honestly responded as she shrugged her shoulders. "I never had the money for nice clothes. I was okay with that though. Really, because I got by. Besides, I have no need for a dress like that one. I won't ever be going out anywhere that requires me to wear it."

"Let me buy it for you," Maleficent then answered. "It'll look gorgeous on you."

The sorceress' daughter tried to object as she shook her head and stated, "You don't have to…"

But Maleficent interrupted, "Please. I really want to buy it for you. I don't wish to pressure you, but I want you to see that you can have the life you want right here. You can be the strong, fine woman that you are. I want to be around to see you get your happy ending too. I already have mine."

"Maleficent!" Mary Margaret suddenly called out as she and Regina rushed towards them from across the street, causing the sorceress to roll her eyes in frustration. "Lily, I'm so sorry for interrupting. We've been looking for you. Something terrible has come up and we were hoping that you both would be willing to help us. A friend of ours…"

"Look, I don't wish to be rude, Snow… but we're done working together," the dragon sorceress retorted curtly as the Princess who caused her so much pain years ago arrived and stood before her and her daughter. "We both got what we wanted today and you've just finished paying your debt. Surely you don't wish to wind up in my debt again."

The Princess tried again as she replied, "I know. I know that we're not friends. But another friend of ours has been captured by Zelena, or the Wicked Witch of the West from Oz as you might know her better as. He was injured and Emma and my husband have both been pulled into her time portal. We were hoping you could… would be willing to help us save him."

Lily glared at them, then turned her eyes on Regina as she responded, "You're the Evil Queen. You have magic of your own. Can't you find whoever you're looking for? Why would we want to help you after everything you've done to us?"

"This witch knows how to block my magic," Regina coldly answered. "She's also my sister. I didn't think you'd be willing to help us. We'll leave you alone now."

"Regina, wait…" Mary Margaret said quickly when her friend began to walk away until she reached out to grab her arm, then immediately turned back around to face Maleficent and Lily again. "Please help us. Just with locating where Zelena has taken Hook. You owe us nothing of course, but I really want us to be able to get along and even be friends if you'll let us. We can put our pasts behind us. I know we can."

The sorceress looked over at her daughter for a few seconds, then looked back at the other women and replied, "We'll think about it. I'll send you a message to let you know my decision. Until then, I'd prefer if you didn't bother us again."

When Maleficent and Lily walked away from them as they entered the shop they had been standing outside of, Mary Margaret turned back to Regina as she spoke up saying, "I think that went better than I expected it would."

"They're not going to help us just like I told you they wouldn't," the Mayor sternly responded. "Why are you so insistent?"

"Because Hook is depending on us," the younger woman answered with concern. "I don't care if Maleficent and Lily aren't on our side, but I have to try. We have to try. He won't admit it, but Hook was the reason why Emma was able to forgive David and me. I'll do whatever it takes to help him, even if it means groveling to them. They're our best hope."

Regina nodded and then questioned again, "And what about Gold's and Isaac's little deadline? Are we just supposed to forget about it?"

Mary Margaret shook her head as she stated firmly, "No. But Hook's life is more at stake right now. We owe him."


	12. Chapter 12

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twelve

"We've arrived within a port at the edge of the forest," the first mate said gruffly a few hours later, abruptly waking the two strangers without remorse that he had startled them in doing so. "We're not docking, so I'll take you the rest of the way to the land in one of the rowboats."

"We appreciate your services," David sternly responded in effort to be courteous while he helped his daughter stand and then wrapped her jacket, which she had removed when she laid down against him, around her shoulders so she could finish putting it back on. "Will your Captain be coming out?"

The pirate scoffed, then he sarcastically asked, "Do you really want him to? Captain Silver's has had enough of the two of you. He demands that we leave immediately, so I suggest you come with me now unless you wish to become a permanent resident on board this ship by becoming like our two slaves, or he chooses to make you both walk the plank. Are you coming?"

Emma glared at the man until she turned her head to look for any sign of Killian and when Rooker saw this, he spoke again cruelly saying, "Forget about him, sweetheart. The deadweight's not able to come up to say goodbye to ya. I doubt he'd want to after what you put him through. He's not exactly feeling too well right now."

"He'll be fine," Emma answered with outward confidence, though inside she was terrified for him. "He's stronger than you or your Captain will ever know. I'm ready to leave this cursed ship when you are."

Days earlier…

 _"Those fish guts smell particularly foul this evening," Killian stated quietly while he and Liam were working hard swabbing the deck on the Captain's ship moored up at the docks, as the crew members ducked around them laughing and drinking._

 _In frustration over his brother's complaining, Liam replied, "Come on, Killian. The harder we work, the sooner we're finished."_

 _The younger Jones sat up as he wiped his filthy hand on the front of his vest and took a sip from his flask, then he responded, "Wish I had your work ethic. Seems I inherited Father's."_

 _"Don't joke about that bastard," his brother said sternly as he looked up at Killian with remorse, then sat up himself while he reached into his own vest and pulled out a piece of parchment to hand it over to the younger man. "He may have sold us into servitude, but tomorrow... we'll be free men."_

 _"Are you serious?" Killian questioned as he read what was written on the paper to himself, then looked back at his brother in disbelief. "You want to join the King's Navy?"_

 _Liam eagerly answered, "There's a signing bonus of ten silver. On top of what we've already saved, that will buy us our freedom off this bloody cargo ship."_

 _Killian folded the parchment again and handed it back as he miserably replied, "I know that's your dream, mate, but I'm hardly naval material."_

 _"If you served an honorable king, it would change you," the older Jones responded with confidence in his brother, though Killian simply began to swab the deck again. "You could be a fine Captain someday. I know it."_

 _"Captain Jones' does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" the younger man asked humorously, not really believing he could be anything more than the slave he was._

 _It was then that Captain Silver appeared on deck as he walked over to stand before his two slaves on the floor at his feet and then spoke mockingly saying, "Ha! Captain Jones? That'll be the day."_

 _He then kicked over the bucket of fish guts the brothers had just cleaned up from the deck while he moved in front of Killian and cruelly added, "You missed a spot there... Captain."_

 _"Killian! Don't!" Liam cried as he immediately jumped to his feet in order to hold him back when his little brother stood and angrily moved to attack Silver._

 _"Come on," the Captain sneered as he removed his hat and looked straight into Killian's darkened eyes, their faces now only inches apart. "Let him try. Must be exhausting, protecting little brother from himself."_

 _Liam kept his eyes on the younger man as he stated curtly, "Hey."_

 _He finally succeeded in pushing Killian back, then he glanced back over at the cruel man as Liam continued, "Won't be your concern much longer."_

 _"Because you're both going to be admirals in the Navy, right?" Silver scoffed when he turned to the older slave. "Fine by me. Long as I get paid. The sober Jones can go and collect his money. The drunk one stays as collateral."_

 _"Easy, brother," Liam said more forcefully as Killian moved to attack the Captain again until the older Jones held him back once more by laying a hand on his chest. "I'll be back by sunrise. And then a proud life in the King's Navy, hmm?"_

Liam thought back to that night in silence while he continued to care for his long since unconscious brother hours after he had been severely beaten by treating the lashes spread widely and deeply across his back and his fever now raging through his body as carefully as he could with old rags, fresh water, and rum from both of their flasks. It was a night he regretted for more than one reason.

One… because his departure that night so he could chase after a dream that was only his had led Killian to getting himself drunk while he foolishly gambled away all of his hard earned money. And two… because for a moment the older Jones actually allowed himself to believe he could be the Naval officer he hoped to be, only to realize that so long as he was forced to take care of his brother due to Killian's lack of control over the darkness within him, he would never achieve it.

Killian finally reawakened and stubbornly struggled to sit up despite his brother's protests, then in frustration Liam tossed the rag he was using to wipe away little of the blood that was smeared across his back and seeping from the lashes, and spoke up furiously asking, "What were you thinking, brother? I told you not to go near that woman. I warned you what would happen if you so much as looked at her and now you're ill. Why the bloody hell did you have to risk your life, for her? Silver can give the orders to kill you. If you keep defying him… There's only so much he'll let you get away with. Do you understand what I'm telling you? Do you even care?"

The younger Jones refused to look his brother in his eyes as he answered wearily, "Of course I do, Liam. You know I love you and that I don't ever mean to disappoint you, but…"

"Just stop," Liam replied angrily before he could finish, then picked up a cleaner rag from within the water bucket and tossed it at the younger man without ringing it out. "I know you don't ever mean to do it, Killian. But you do it. All the time. Eventually, there won't be anything I can do for you any longer and eventually… eventually I might have to let you continue to make your own mistakes without me being here to clean up after you. I don't want to ever leave you. But damn it, Killian! I can't watch you die!"

"Those bastards were attacking her," Killian responded just as angrily. "I couldn't just stand by and let them hurt her. Ignoring it would have made me a coward. I told you that you should have left me. You should have joined the King's Navy and then you wouldn't have had to see any of that. You're well suited to be a Captain for the King. I'm not. I suggest next time, you take that chance."

Killian then struggled to stand and continued, "I'm sorry I can't be the brother you deserve."

As he stepped forward and moved to leave the brig where the two of them slept most nights, his brother harshly called out, "They're gone, brother. You won't ever be seeing them again. If they die out there, then so be it. That's on them!"

"I never thought I'd hear words so cruel coming out of your mouth," the younger Jones answered in disappointment as he froze in the doorway, then turned his head to look back at his brother.

"If it's the only way to get through to you, then maybe Silver was right about at least one thing," Liam replied cruelly. "I've coddled you too long."

Killian stared at him miserably until he stated, "Well, luckily you won't have to do so any longer."

When his brother left him alone, Liam then cursed under his breath exclaiming, "Damn it, Killian!"


	13. Chapter 13

Coming Back to You

Chapter Thirteen

In Storybrooke…

Night had fallen by the time Zelena returned again to the tower where she was still holding the Savior's love her prisoner, within a rickety old windmill beyond the woods not far from her farmhouse. When the Wicked Witch had moved in after she had first arrived in Storybrooke at the end of the year they had all forgotten until the curse had been broken, Zelena used her power to cloak the windmill as its been ever since. It was the little of her magic that remained after she had been defeated by the former Evil Queen and was believed to be dead.

She entered the small room at the top of the tower and found Hook still bound on the floor within his corner exactly like she left him a few times since she had captured him two days earlier, apparently asleep as his head rested against the side of the poorly lit fireplace and his darkened eyes remained closed. However, Zelena knew better than to believe that sleep was a luxury he was willing to give himself so long as he was being held and the woman he loved was missing somewhere in time. From the sheen of sweat covering his skin, she could also see he was becoming ill.

Zelena finally cleared her throat when she sat upon the only chair within the room as she conjured another bottle of rum within her hand, then looked down at him and stated, "Come now, Captain. I know you're hardly sleeping. How about a drink? Would you be willing to accept a cup from me now? You really do look as though you could use something for your pain."

Killian opened his eyes to look up at her coldly while she could see a deep anguish within them and as far she knew it was because she hadn't healed him all the way as his pain only continued to worsen, yet she didn't care, especially when he answered weakly, "My answer is the same as before. I want nothing from you."

"Two days have passed," the witch responded again after she poured herself another tall glass and took a few sips, then threw the bottle with what little remained of the alcohol into the hearth as a fire erupted within it, causing Killian to fall hard against the floor when he attempted to move out of the way to which Zelena only laughed. "Your precious Savior hasn't returned home and none of the rest of the heroes here have bothered to lift a finger to find you. And now you're burning up because you refuse to accept what little help I've offered you."

"If you really wanted to… to help me, you would have healed my wound the rest of the way and… simply kept me as your prisoner," he replied, struggling to sit up again until the ropes that still kept him bound tightened once more as he gasped under their pressure.

He finally relaxed his body where he had fallen, which allowed for the bonds to loosen enough so that his pain subsided a little, then he continued, "I won't… accept your help. The last ti… time I accepted something from you, you were able to… curse my lips."

Zelena smiled at the memory as she answered, "That's right. I had almost forgotten. You sought absolution from me when you thought me to be Ariel and accepted it greedily so you could be rid of your guilt. Tricking you was all too easy. You're wise not to trust me again. But whether I planned to drug or curse you again through relief doesn't matter any longer. You're still going to feel much worse than you do now very soon. I promised you we would have ourselves a bit of fun. It's almost time to give the heroes a show. Unless Regina turns herself over to me… for me to do with her as I see fit, you will die whether Emma returns in time to see your death or not."

Meanwhile…

Maleficent and her daughter were given rooms at Granny's bed and breakfast as the old woman had told them she would two days prior. Lily hadn't seen her mother since, until she knocked on her door when she was finally ready to speak with her again, having taken some time alone to think. She entered and then sat on the bed while Maleficent sat across from her in the room's only chair. Lily spoke first between them about the thoughts that crossed their minds ever since they had talked with Snow White and Regina.

"So, have you made any decision yet?" the young woman asked nervously as she bent over to lean forward while she kept her eyes on her mother. "We owe them nothing. If anything they still owe us."

"That may be, but things are different now," the dragon sorceress responded in frustration.

Lily shook her head as she questioned, "How so? Because you live here now? You shouldn't have to give up being who you are just to fit into a world you're forced to live in. You promised me to teach me about being a scary dragon bitch, but saving some guy in order to help our enemies is kind of the opposite I think."

Maleficent nodded in understanding, then replied, "You're right. I don't want to give up being who I am for anything and I don't necessarily want to help Snow White or the others save Emma's lover any more than you do. But I do want a future with you and remaining here in Storybrooke is the only way I can have that, because I will be dust if I leave. You're my happy ending, Lily. If I have to put aside my anger towards my enemies to ensure that we can become a family, then I do so because I want to and not because I have to. Do you understand?"

"I suppose I do," she answered quietly, then stood up again and began to pace around the room. "Emma was my friend once. Even though a large part of me wants to make her and everyone else here beginning with Emma's parents, suffer for all of my pain… the rest of me wants to find peace. To find friends and to have a relationship with you. My mother. I'll never have that if I don't fight against the darkness inside of me. I need your help to do it. But this doesn't mean I've decided to stay here past the week I promised you either. I need time to figure everything out."

"Of course," her mother responded eagerly. "And just because we're going to make an effort, it doesn't mean I can't show you what I'm made of. We may be helping the heroes, but we will get to fight against a wicked witch."

The young sorceress smiled as she then asked, "But Snow… or Mary Margaret I guess they call her here, mentioned that this witch has found a way to hide herself and Hook from their sight. Can you really get around her barriers?"

Maleficent stood as she summoned her staff into her hands, then waved her hand over the purple crystal at its top and replied, "This witch has never come up against me yet. We know she's blocked Regina's magic. And quite possibly all light magic. Luckily for these heroes our magic is still dark."

"It's working," Lily stated when the cloud within the crystal finally cleared to reveal Zelena sitting down across from Hook who was bound and appeared to be ill. "That's the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz?"

"Yes she is," the sorceress answered.

Within the purple orb, the two women watched a moment shared between her and her captive as Zelena said to him cruelly, " _I promised you we would have ourselves a bit of fun. It's almost time to give the heroes a show. Unless Regina turns herself over to me… for me to do with her as I see fit, you will die whether Emma returns in time to see your death or not._ "

Maleficent waved her hand again to dispel her magic within the crystal, then she thought for a moment as Lily asked, "Do you think that the Evil Queen would really be willing to give up her life to save another villain?"

"I wouldn't have thought so when I was first resurrected," the older woman responded and let out a frustrated sigh as she struggled to make up her mind as to whether or not she was really going to go through with helping them.

"I'm with you for now," her daughter replied. "No matter what you decide… Mom."


	14. Chapter 14

Coming Back to You

Chapter Fourteen

David and Emma had been walking through the forest for an hour since they had left the port where the pirates had dropped them off in silence and Charming understood his daughter was really struggling with leaving the ship, more importantly leaving Killian without so much as a word to him, or a few minutes to check on him so she could make sure he was really going to be alright. She was also afraid of the possibility of returning home to their own time and not finding Hook there any longer. So he didn't press Emma to talk at all, knowing that she would do so in her own time even if she blew up at him.

"I hope you know where we're going because I don't recognize where we are," Emma finally said curtly after she stopped walking, then sat down on top of a fallen log so she could rest her feet and put her face in her hands out of frustration. "I've never been through here, or maybe I have. This entire forest looks the same to me. What are we doing?"

"We're heading for the Dark One's castle," David calmly replied when he sat down beside her and then laid his hand down gently on her leg. "And yes, I know where we are and how to get there from here. Thankfully things haven't really changed all that much in two hundred years. At least not the beautiful land surrounding us right now. Even though Gold… or Rumplestiltskin doesn't live there yet, it's possible the former Dark One does. It's the best place to start looking."

She sighed, then raised her head again to look over at her father and as though she was afraid of someone overhearing their conversation she whispered, "Fine. I agree, but what if no one is there, if he or she lives somewhere else in this realm, or if they're even being controlled by someone… What then?"

Charming patted her leg and then answered, "I don't really know. But we will figure something out. The Dark One has to be known as well as Rumplestiltskin was. The darkness has always existed and it feeds off of people's fears. We'll find him."

"All right, then let's keep moving," Emma responded, then moved to stand again with David's help once he was up as well. "And no… I don't want to talk about Killian."

"I wasn't going to ask you if you wanted to, because I knew you would bring up what happened to him only when you were ready," Charming replied in concern. "It's okay to talk about, Emma."

They continued to walk as she stated quietly, "I should have done something more. I shouldn't have just allowed that pompous jackass get away with hurting him like that. Hell, I shouldn't have just sat there and allowed it to happen. I know I couldn't really use my magic in the open, but… what good is it if I couldn't have used it to help Killian somehow? To heal him or to…"

All of a sudden, the Prince shushed her upon getting the sense that they were being followed as he slowly pulled Hook's sword from its sheath he still wore on his belt, then whispered, "I think we're being watched."

It was then that a group of thieves appeared from behind the trees and began to surround them as David pulled his daughter close to him while their leader spoke up saying, "Look at what we have here, men. A fine looking woman and her nervous boyfriend."

"You guys really don't want to do this," David called out as Emma also laid her hand over the top of her service weapon still holstered on her belt as well. "We have nothing of value for you to steal. We're just simple peasants passing through."

"From the look of the strange clothes you're wearing and those weapons you carry, I doubt very much you're peasants," the thieves' leader answered snidely, then he and the rest of the band pulled their own weapons. Swords, pistols, and clubs. "Where are you headed? Perhaps we could escort you there. We would love the pleasure of your company. Especially your woman here."

David lowered his hand over his own gun as well, while Emma glared at the bandit before them and responded coldly, "Not going to happen. Leave, or you'll wish you had. My brother's quick with a sword and our pistols are unlike any of the ones you've ever seen before."

The men simply laughed and just when they were about to move in, the sound of an explosion suddenly erupted from behind them in the not too far off distance and the thieves immediately took off running in its direction, seeming to have forgotten all about Emma and David who looked over at one another in confusion.

Emma questioned, "What just happened? There's no way that was a coincidence."

"It wasn't," a familiar voice replied weakly from behind them, as the Savior and her father quickly spun around to find Killian leaning heavily against a tree as he struggled to keep himself from collapsing to the ground and get his breathing back under control. "I set their camp… on fire with a… bit of gunpowder when I saw… you were about to be in… trouble, then took off before it blew. But they'll be back… unless we get… moving."

"Killian?" Emma said in disbelief when she saw him step out into the open, then immediately rushed to his side to help him, followed closely by David. "How… Why are you here? You're hurt."

He looked into Emma's fearful eyes feeling confused, yet deeply moved by her concern for him, then he answered, "I had to make sure you were… safe. So I escaped Silver by jumping overboard."

They quickly pulled his arms around their shoulders despite him still wearing the shackles, then carefully began to move with him further through the woods to get farther away from where the thieves were still hanging around. Once they felt they managed to make it far enough away from the thugs who threatened them, they helped Killian to sit on the ground, then David pulled out a flask of water that was given to him by Silver's first mate as he left them on the shore and handed it to Killian to drink from.

As he did so, Charming looked over at his daughter with concern and then turned back to his friend as he worryingly responded, "Surely they'll come after you once they discover you're missing. What about your brother?"

"Liam doesn't deserve to look after me his whole life," Killian replied sadly, then winced when a sudden flare of pain came over him again. "He has a chance to go after his dream. I can't hold him back… any longer."

"You're a fool… if you really think chasing after a pretty face is going to convince me to abandon you now," Liam stated brusquely when he walked towards them from the opposite direction, having followed after Killian after leaving the Hispaniola to find his brother. "I've come to take you back, Killian. I'm trying to protect you, even if it means I have to protect you from yourself. If we go back willingly, the punishment won't be as severe as it will be if they catch you."

Killian shook his head and then answered, "I can't go back. I'm not worthy of being a Naval officer like you are, Liam. But I won't be a slave for that bastard my whole life either. I can survive on my own without you."

Before Liam could argue, Emma spoke again saying, "I don't mean to interrupt, but why are either one of you here? We're grateful for the help, but Killian…"

"I had to see you again," the younger man responded before she could finish. "To help you get to wherever you're going… to thank you."

"You're thanking me?" she replied, surprised by his omission. "After what Silver and his men did to you because of me?"

Killian looked into her eyes as he answered, "What they did was my own fault. I'm thanking you because… because you're the only one who has ever showed Liam and me any kindness. Believe me, that means everything and I'd risk my life a hundred times if it meant getting you and your brother home. Or to wherever you're trying to get to. Since you risked your lives already by buying passage on Silver's ship, your mission must be important."

Emma just stared at him with surprise and adoration as she's looked at the man she loved waiting for her to come home many times over since they met, then he cleared his throat feeling embarrassed for being so open with this woman he didn't know and quickly turned away. He stood up as he looked over at Liam again, who just shook his head in disappointment.

David noticed this, but simply said, "Getting home is important. We don't belong here and the longer we're gone, the worse things will get. Neither one of you should have come after us. Our mission is dangerous. We have to find the Dark One."

"The Dark One?" Liam questioned sternly. "The two of you have to be mad if you're risking your lives to find him."

"Do you know him?" Emma asked while she looked between the two brothers sounding hopeful. "Do you have any idea where we can find him?"

Killian pulled off a small pouch from his belt, struggling against the shackles still binding his sore wrists as he responded, "We only know of him. I think everyone does in some form or another, but if I can help you find him…"

Liam interrupted as he curtly stated, "Killian!"

"I'm going to help them, Liam," the younger Jones retorted with frustration, when he turned back to his brother. "It's already too late for me. I've already absconded. I can't explain why it is I feel so strongly to help them, but I do. I have to. And there's nothing you can say that will get me to change my mind. I'm sorry. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get these damned shackles off. Thankfully I've got just enough gunpowder to do it."

"I'll help you," David replied as he glanced over at his daughter worryingly and then followed after Killian towards the river a little further down the hill from where they currently stopped to rest, leaving Emma alone with Liam.

The older brother turned his head to look at the stranger after Killian was out of his sight and then he finally spoke again crossly saying, "You're name isn't really Leia, is it? And you and James… you're not really brother and sister."

She looked at him nervously as she answered, "I can explain."

"Save it," he retorted angrily. "I don't really care about your reasons for lying about who you are. But I do need to know if you're some kind of witch."

"I beg your pardon?" Emma questioned in confusion.

Liam moved so that he was standing directly in front of her as he asked again, "Have you somehow bewitched my brother? Killian has been brash in his life. He's even been a fool so often that he's received a number of beatings like the one you were there to witness earlier. But he's never been foolish enough to even consider escaping servitude since the first time he tried to when he was still a boy. If we're caught… If Silver catches up to us, Killian is a dead man. Do you have any idea what I'm trying to tell you? Don't you understand that you might have just gotten my little brother killed because you've for some reason become infatuated with him and showed him he's worth more than the slave he is? Don't you understand that's all he is?"

It was then that Killian spoke when he appeared again behind his brother while he bent down to pick up his flask he dropped, as with hurt in his voice he responded, "You've never once called me a slave in your life. You of all people."

"Killian, I…" his brother attempted to reply until the younger Jones quickly cut him off.

"No… How can you be angry with her for showing us the only compassion you and I have been shown since we've been damned to this hell?" Killian brusquely continued. "If you want to be angry with anyone, be angry at me. I was the one who jeopardized my own life. If I'm caught, it's my fault. I never asked you to follow me."

Liam glared at him as he answered, "And you are really willing to throw me aside, to abandon me now after I refused to give up on you when I finally had the chance to be a free man?"

David slowly walked up from the river upon hearing the argument between the brothers become heated, as Killian shouted, "I never asked you to protect me, Liam! Not from myself as you said. I know that running away to come after two strangers was foolish in your eyes. But not in mine. I can't explain why I feel so strongly about helping them to find their way home. I know what's at stake, brother. And if I'm killed for trying to do one bloody decent thing in my life for once… then I can die proudly. But you should go. You still have your money. You can still live your dream of becoming a Captain in the Royal Navy like you deserve. Silver will only be after me. He's made it perfectly clear he doesn't care whether or not you remain a slave, or a free man. So go."

"Don't bother with helping me, mate," he whispered dejectedly as he walked past David to walk away from everyone. "I'd rather be alone. But I'll be ready to go when you are."

"I'm sorry," Charming said to Liam quietly after his friend disappeared so he could continue to work on ridding himself of his chains. "We never meant to come between the two of you."

The older Jones fought to remain in control of his own grief caused by the terrible things his brother had just heard him say about him until he turned back to Emma again and saw tears in her eyes, then he stated, "No. I'm the one who owes you both an apology. My little brother's the one who's right, not me. He was right to want to protect you both. You've given him back something he lost the night our father abandoned us. You gave him back a slight hope of having a better life. And more importantly, you gave him back his strength to be a man he can be proud of. That is until I just destroyed it again."

She shook her head as she responded, "You can fix it. You have no idea how much he loves you. You just have to prove to him you didn't mean the things you said out of anger and fear, for him."

"Killian's always been ashamed of being a slave," Liam replied sadly. "Silver and the other crewmen used to tease and taunt him relentlessly about being so. He was even beaten within an inch of his life by citizens of one of the ports we visited some time ago as he tried to defend himself when they began to attack him just for being a slave. And our father cursed him to this life. Now I've only confirmed it and I'm his brother. I don't know if I can repair the damage."

"There's always a way," the Savior answered assuredly. "We only want what's best for the both of you. Help us get home and we can help you and Killian both. I am begging you to trust us."

Liam looked between them as he pleaded, "If you help me save Killian…"

Emma sincerely responded, "I won't let him die, especially not now. You have my word."


	15. Chapter 15

Coming Back to You

Chapter Fifteen

Rooker walked down below deck and stood outside of the Captain's quarters for over a minute out of concern until he finally gathered his courage to knock. When Silver called out for him to entered, the first mate found him standing hunched over the desk as he observed the open maps. He didn't bother to stand straight or even turn his head to look back at the man directly under his command.

The crewman nervously spoke first saying, "Uh… Captain, Sir…. I'm afraid th… that there is… isn't…"

Still without turning around, Silver spoke up curtly as he asked, "Are there any signs of them?"

"No Sir, Captain," he replied firmly. "It appears that your slaves have decided to run away. I told you I wouldn't be surprised if the younger Jones foolishly escaped to go after that woman. We should have locked him up until we were well underway again. And now the older one had to go out and chase him down."

"Liam will have been smart enough to go after his brother just to return him to where he belongs," the Captain answered as he finally turned around to face him. "He understands the consequences if he doesn't. But even still, the whelp doesn't understand what it means to defy me, or he doesn't care to. He'll be stubborn. Which is why I want them found, Rooker. We're going after them even if it means a delay in our mission for the King. No one, especially one of my slaves, defies me and gets away with it. Is this understood?"

His first mate nodded and responded, "Yes of course, Captain. But where do we even begin the search? The Enchanted Forest is a large world in of itself. It could take days, if we're lucky enough to find them at all."

Captain Silver glared at his crewman as he replied, "We will find him. Because if we don't, the fault will be yours and you will take the slave's punishment for him. I have yet to decide whether or not his offense is punishable by death, or the kind of beating and pain that will become engrained in his mind forever to remind him of what comes of his continued defiance. I can guarantee he will wish for death. Is that what you want?"

"No Sir," Rooker answered nervously once more. "We will find him. We'll find them both."

A few hours later…

Silver and the rest of his crew, aside from the select few chosen to remain onboard the Hispaniola to guard their ship, made their way to the land and began their search for the two slaves causing them grief and time that was meant to go towards the start of their mission for the King. Thankfully for them, the Captain had good foresight to hire an expert tracker as a part of his crew.

"It appears that either the slaves or the strangers we brought here were responsible for the destruction of this camp, by the use of the stolen gunpowder," the tracker said upon their arrival at the thieves' camp after the band had abandoned it. "I would guess it was the younger Jones. I have seen four sets of footprints leading away from the port, one of which lead us here. These footprints are deeper than the rest, which indicates whoever did this is ill or wounded and is causing him to struggle in keeping himself moving."

Silver smiled coldly as he responded, "With your skills, Tutiloo, we should find him by nightfall and therefore his brother too. What about signs of the brother and sister? Can you tell if Jones caught up to them?"

Tutiloo looked around him and replied, "Not at this point they haven't. But there are other tracks."

"Yeah, those would be ours," the leader of the band of thieves stated angrily as multiple hammers from pistols being cocked back sounded from before them as a number of men walked out into the clearing from the trees. "This camp belonged to us. It was destroyed when we were attempting to have ourselves a little fun with a woman traveling with some other guy. Someone else distracted us to help them. We've been looking for them ever since and then we came across you and your men."

"This woman and the man with her… was she beautiful and yellow hair, wearing strange clothes?" Captain Silver questioned when he and his own men also pulled their weapons to protect themselves from these men should they attack first.

The thief sneered, "It appears we're looking for the same woman."

Rooker aimed his pistol at the man's head as he gruffly answered, "We're actually after the man responsible for this destruction. He'll have found this woman by now and are traveling together along with another of our slaves."

"Perhaps if we banded together to find these four, I'd be generous and allow you and your men to have the woman and her brother, so long as the two slaves are returned to me," the pirate Captain continued. "This standoff doesn't have to end in bloodshed."

"Actually, it does," the thief responded, then fired a shot towards Silver until his first mate immediately stepped forward and grabbed his arm to yank it back so that the shot went wide, killing another of the pirates instead. "Kill them! Kill them all!"

Rooker cried out, "Protect our Captain!"

A fight ensued between the pirates and band of thieves, and several of the men on both sides were either killed or wounded. By the time it ended, Silver's men easily overpowered the thieves killing the rest including their leader due to their number being far greater. Silver ended up with a musket ball in his arm, while the tracker was killed.

The Captain finally shouted, "Leave the bodies and keep searching for my slaves. I want them found!"

"Captain, you should head back to the ship so you can have your arm taken care of," his first mate curtly replied. "I swear, I will find them and bring them back. They can't hide from us forever."

"No… I'm going to find him and then I will kill Jones myself when I do," Silver answered angrily. "If we don't find them in two days time, you're as good as dead, Rooker. Do not fail me."


	16. Chapter 16

Coming Back to you

Chapter Sixteen

Meanwhile…

After Killian walked back down to the river to be alone and Liam finished speaking with Emma and David about his brother, the older Jones fell quiet as he began to build a fire for them. The strangers to the brothers didn't talk anymore either, as the Prince knelt down on ground with Liam to help him until the three of them froze when they became startled by the sound of a small explosion down by the river. The brother with them reassured them the noise was only Killian as he finally broke himself free of his shackles by filling the lock mechanism with enough gunpowder, then lighting it to blast them off. It was a painful, but effective. David then offered to go hunting for something for them to eat while Liam finished. But as the older brother worked, David noticed Emma had disappeared to find Killian. So he stayed with Liam.

The Savior carefully made her way down the bank of the river and walked along it in silence until she saw Killian in the distance as he faced the river while he rubbed his wrists to try to ease his pain a little. Finally, he bent down to pick up the shackles that had fallen on the ground after they fell from his wrists, then tossed them into the rushing water to be rid of them forever. She remained quiet as she watched him from behind a tree not wanting to disturb him from his thoughts or task at hand. But when he unfastened his vest, then weakly pulled his shirt up over his head and began to soak it in water in order to try to rinse off the blood that stained his clothes the best he could, Emma couldn't stop herself from letting out a horrified gasp upon really seeing the bloody lashes across his back for the first time.

"Leia… Milady!" Killian cried out as he suddenly jumped up from the ground upon being startled by her arrival and spun around to face her while she fell back a few steps in worry that he'd be angry with her for spying on him. "Forgive me. I had no idea you were here."

"I'm… sorry," she stuttered nervously while he wrung out his shirt and then pulled it back on as quickly as he could to cover his back from her. "I didn't mean to… to scare you. I swear I didn't come down here just to watch you."

He smiled, then lowered his head in shame and quietly answered, "It's all right. I apologize for my appearance. And for requiring your help earlier when it was meant to be I who…"

Emma cut him off as she replied, "Please don't keep apologizing to me. You have no reason to be sorry. You saved me from those pirates at great risk to yourself. I'm the one who owes you one, but an apology hardly covers it. Why did you do it? Why risk your life to protect me knowing what that bastard would do? You don't know me at all."

"I know that you didn't deserve to become another of those men's trophies," Killian answered angrily until another wave of pain suddenly washed over him, causing him to fall back against the tree behind him and nearly to the ground again until Emma caught him and then carefully helped him sit on the ground.

"Thank you," the man who embodied the brave pirate Captain of her own time whispered, then turned his head to look away from her upon feeling embarrassed by his weakness until she moved around to sit down before him and lifted his head so that he would look at her.

She looked at him gently as she responded sadly, "You're not worthless like everyone in your life has led you to believe, Killian. You're a good man, not just some slave. One day you'll come to be so much… more."

Killian couldn't help, but stare strangely into her deep green eyes and saw something again he thought he had seen when they first met as he served her, then he asked, "Who are you really? I don't mean your name, but… Why… Why do I feel as though I… know you?"

"My name isn't Leia," the Savior replied worryingly, knowing all too well the risk she was about to take with the hope of giving this much younger Killian a reason to keep fighting. "Emma… my name is Emma. And James isn't my brother. It's David and he's really my father. But all of this is too long of a story to tell right now. And I can't explain why… our connection is so strong. Back home where we're from, there's someone I care about very much and we're very close. You remind me of him. This man is strong, brave, a scoundrel, but in the best of ways. If it wasn't for him, I would still be lost when all I ever wanted was right in front of me. He gave me back my family and made me see the home that was in front of me all along. He sacrificed so much just for me."

"He sounds like the kind of man you deserve, but he's nothing like me," the younger Jones sadly responded and slowly made his way back to the river to take a drink, then to fill up his flask once containing rum until he used it to treat the lacerations around his wrists once the shackles were gone, along with the lashes on his back as far as he could reach. "I'm hardly any of those things. I only helped you because… because I somehow had a fleeting moment of courage that overpowered any sense of self-preservation I possessed, which isn't much."

Despite the numerous warnings she had been given by her Killian and her father, Emma followed this younger version of him and then tenderly laid the palm of her hand over his back so she could heal him, then did the same for his wrists as well while she answered softly, "You're wrong, Killian. The man I know was a man who grew up… very much like you and suffered greatly in his life, but despite it all he became one of the strongest and bravest men I will ever know. That's why I believe, why I know you'll become every bit of a hero as he is."

He looked at her with astonishment upon feeling his anguish fade away while she finished by saying, "Because you fought against your instincts and thought only of me and my father knowing you could die just like he did."

"I almost believe you," Killian whispered sadly. "If only I could have been all that for Liam when he needed me to be."

"Your brother loves you too," Emma honestly replied. "And he's proud of you. He's just… scared. Those things he said…"

He quickly stood up again feeling better than he had in days as he interrupted, "I deserved the words he said. Liam had the chance to be a free man and so did I. But because I foolishly drank all night with Silver and other crewmen while Liam was off to sign us up, and gambled away what little money I had managed to save, I threw our freedom away. He refused to leave me behind to save himself, but he's angry with me and regrets that I'm his brother. He has every right."

Emma was about to respond again until all of a sudden, an eruption of gunfire and shouting sounded far in the distance and it wasn't more than a minute before David swiftly ran down the bank towards them, followed closely by Liam as the older Jones looked at his brother while he said urgently, "We have to go. It must be Silver and his men. They're looking for us."

"Who are they fighting right now?" David questioned as the four of them began to run low along the river with Liam in the lead so they could remain off the main path through the forest and hopefully out of sight.

"It doesn't really matter who they're fighting, so long as they're distracted from their real goal to find us," Liam curtly responded, then suddenly came to a halt as he ducked down and immediately pulled his brother down with him when he heard a few of the men shouting above them close by, while Emma and David both followed.

They remained crouched down against the river bank for several minutes and when it sounded to be clear above them, they were about to stand until Liam got a better look at Killian's back through the tares in his soaking wet and bloody shirt, then he looked between him and Emma as he asked, "How the hell are your wounds gone, Killian? Are you… Are you alright?"

Emma glanced at her father, but quickly turned away in order to avoid seeing him looking at her with disapproval as the younger Jones answered, "I'm fine. The pain in my back is gone, Liam. Thanks to Emma."

"Emma?" Liam stated as he glared at the woman who hadn't yet told him what her name really was. "So that's it then? You healed him?"

"I told you I'm no witch and I'm not a sorceress either," the Savior replied in concern. "I have magic and I used it to heal your brother so that he wouldn't be in so much pain any longer. But it's because I was born from true love and where we come from… Look, I don't know if you would understand it or not and we don't have time for me to try to explain it to you. We need to find ourselves someplace safe. I promise you we mean you and Killian no harm."

Liam looked into her eyes and then with sincerity he responded, "I hope I'm right to believe you. Thank you for helping him. Now, I think I know where we can find a safe place."

David then spoke again saying, "We're with you."


	17. Chapter 17

Coming Back to You

Chapter Seventeen

A knock sounded at the Charmings' door as Mary Margaret was sitting down with her son in her arms while she rocked him to sleep after trying to comfort him, knowing that he sensed his father and sister were in danger. When she stood to see who had come to visit her, the Princess found Maleficent and Lily standing on the other side within the hallway. Mary Margaret instinctively took a few steps back while she looked between the two women, then motioned for them to come in without a word and walked over to Neal's cradle to lay him down for the night.

After making sure that her baby would remain asleep, she finally turned back to her guests as she spoke up in concern saying, "It's been two days since we asked you for your help. Please… please tell me you've come to help us find Hook. We've looked everywhere for him. But even with Regina's magic only and a search party sent out all over town, we've been unable to find where Zelena's holding him. God only knows what condition he's in by now."

Maleficent glanced over at her staff and then she replied, "Actually, I know what condition he's in and he's not well. But he is alive."

"Wait, let me call Regina," Mary Margaret responded, then pulled out her phone from her pocket until another knock came at the door and she immediately opened it again to find the former Evil Queen standing there along with Robin and Henry, as if she had been summoned there by magic. "Regina… You're here?"

"You seem surprised," she answered strangely until she noticed her old enemy and the sorceress' daughter behind her friend, then walked inside the loft as Mary Margaret shut the door again behind her. "Actually, it appears as though I've come just in time. What's going on?"

Lily looked between the heroes sternly while she replied, "We've come to help you rescue Emma's boyfriend."

Henry glared at her and Maleficent as he curtly responded, "It's been two days. We don't know what Zelena's done to Hook and it's a miracle that Gold and Isaac haven't followed through with whatever sending us all to whatever alternate realities they have in mind for us."

"You have Zelena to thank for that," the dragon sorceress answered and then took a seat on the couch, as did her daughter while everyone else remained standing nearby.

"What are you talking about?" Regina asked in concern.

Maleficent continued, "I looked in on the witch with my own source of magic and it turns out she paid the Dark One and the Author a visit, to cast a spell over the entire pawnshop in order to freeze them in a single moment. Her magic must be more powerful than I thought if she can do that."

The Mayor shook her head as she replied, "No freeze spell is that powerful. Not to last two days. She's cast some other kind of magic over them, probably so that she can have the time for whatever she's planning with Hook. How have we not noticed this?"

"Because none of us have bothered to go near Gold shop due to Rumplestiltskin's own spell meant to keep all of us out," Robin responded in frustration. "Henry and I have been searching all over the Sorcerer's mansion for some way of helping us, but we haven't found anything either."

"We don't know what the Wicked Witch did to Gold, but we know what she's done so far to the pirate," Lily answered. "Or at least we have an idea as to what her plans are."

Mary Margaret looked between her and her mother again as she nervously replied, "You said he was ill. How? What has she done to him?"

Maleficent waved her hand over her staff's crystal in order to reveal an image of Killian within it as it showed him lying on the floor of some barn like room, bound tightly by thick white ropes and it was clear he was as sick as the sorceress said he was. Although it wasn't clear what made him so other than the possibility it was the wound in his shoulder they could see Zelena hadn't healed all the way in order to keep him in pain. The image then faded away again almost as quickly as it came.

Henry quickly asked, "Can't you do something to figure out where that is she's holding him?"

"Unfortunately, Zelena's magic is powerful enough to keep her hiding place hidden from me as well," the villainess responded again. "But that isn't all we found. She's about to do something worse that involves Hook. And you too, Regina."

"Let me guess, she plans to bargain… his life in exchange for mine," the former Evil Queen retorted with frustration. "She thinks that I'll be willing to give my life for him. The thing is, I think would if I knew there was absolutely no other way to save him."

Maleficent looked at her old nemesis as she said smugly, "I have to say, I'm surprised at you. I didn't think you had it in you to be a hero, let alone one who would sacrifice her life willingly to save another villain like us."

Regina nodded and then answered, "I didn't think I had it in me either."

"Why is it that this witch was able to block only your magic?" Lily asked the Mayor out of curiosity. "Does it have something to do with dark magic versus light magic, or just the fact she's your sister?"

"Because she's my sister," Regina replied again. "Our magic comes from the same blood and somehow she's made it so that I can't get past hers."

The dragon sorceress smiled as if to laugh at her misfortune, then she responded, "Well, luckily you have me and my daughter. We've agreed to help you against our better instincts. I can't leave Storybrooke and we both want to see if we can make our relationship work. I figured the best way to do that is to play nice with you heroes for awhile. So… if you'll agree, leave the Wicked Witch to us, and we'll deal with her however we see fit. The rest of you can focus on helping Hook. That's our deal. What do you say?"

After looking between her friends and grandson, Mary Margaret finally turned back to the two other women among them as she answered nervously, "We'll do it. If that's the only way you will agree to help us, we accept. So long as it helps us to save Hook."


	18. Chapter 18

Coming Back to You

Chapter Eighteen

Once again in Storybrooke…

Zelena had come to check in on her captive twice within the two day period since Killian had been taken and within that time, he had fallen much sicker than the Wicked Witch planned on when she healed his shoulder wound enough to keep him out of danger of dying on her too soon. But even when she saw how bad off he was, believing that his illness was because she hadn't healed him all the way, Zelena didn't try to help him at all. She simply left him lying on the floor of the tower within the windmill, still bound by her enchanted ropes. She had other priorities to attend to and she couldn't deny that she enjoyed seeing the Savior's pirate in such a state. What the witch didn't know was that he was keeping the true cause of his anguish a secret from her, mostly because he didn't understand it himself.

The ache within his shoulder was painful, but his mind felt far worse, making it difficult to even lift his head when the witch made her appearances. Nothing happened for almost the entire time of his captivity until hours ago when what appeared as near blinding glimmers of strange dreams Killian couldn't really begin to understand, sporadically forced their way into his mind and plagued him deeply, continuing on as the hours ticked by. However, these dreams felt more like remembrances of dark happenings long ago during his years in servitude to Captain Silver, his long dead slave master, as though he's lived two lives and his mind was fighting to remember both.

What made things even more complicated, was that while he could see the faces of his brother Liam, Silver, and most of the other pirates who mocked and tormented him for sixteen years, there were new faces in front of him he couldn't see clearly or even hear them speaking to him. They appeared to him within a blur, while his surroundings and those he knew well back then were perfectly clear. It never occurred to him that what was happening to him was because Emma and David had fallen into his past and were inadvertently making changes in his life simply by being there.

The latest glimmers started again while Zelena was still in the room with him. Yet she was too busy with the next part of her plan to notice his face furrow again when his pain deepened, not even when he let out a small whimper, while she studied her grimoire lying open on her lap. However, she vanished again within her green smoke before his real torment began.

Killian suddenly saw himself as he struck one of Silver's men, then began to fight against another until he succeeded in shoving him overboard. Another glimpse rushed into his mind as he could hear a woman cry out for him as he was then grabbed from behind and forced to the floor of the ship at the Captain's feet. While the voice of fear he heard above the roars of hate and anger was familiar to him, he couldn't recognize it.

" _What happened here?_ " he finally heard Silver ask his crew while the Captain down at the younger of the two slaves, and Killian did the same as he glared up at him too. " _Speak!_ "

" _This bastard broke my nose and threw Boyle overboard, Captain,_ " the man Killian had struck first responded angrily, then bent down to punch the slave hard in his back just as Liam appeared amongst the crowd and struggled to get to his brother through the crowd surrounding him. " _We were only talking with the lady and he came out of nowhere to pick a fight._ "

The woman's voice sounded again as she shouted, " _That's a lie! He was protecting me because your men got themselves too drunk and thought they could hit on me. One of them tried to attack me, but Kill… this man stopped him._ "

Within another flash, Silver turned to his brother as he spoke again saying, " _I thought that I made it perfectly clear to you what would happen if he were to go anywhere near this woman, Liam. He defied me again even if he was just defending her honor. And now he will be punished for it. You should have been more cruel when you warned him, rather than coddle him as you always do when you try to protect him from himself. Men, string him up! Don't bother with removing the shackles first. Bind him to the main mast and bring out the lash._ "

While the pirates finished binding his shackled wrists to the ship's main mast, Killian watched and listened as his slave master leaned in close so that only he could hear him speak as the Captain cruelly whispered, " _Be grateful that we have guests, Jones. Because if they weren't here, your punishment would be far worse as it should be. This scourging ought to humiliate you so that any delusions you might have had about that woman caring about you, will vanish forever._ "

All of a sudden, the first lash struck his back as Captain Silver held the hilt of the whip and he then felt a searing agony arise within him as though what happened to him centuries ago was happening to him all over again, while Killian could hear himself let out a small cry despite his efforts to keep from doing so. The men surrounding him roared and cheered with glee.

Killian writhed when the second lash struck him with great force as the cruel master continued to beat him… then a third, a fourth, so on and so forth. After the first five strikes were endowed upon him, Silver passed the whip to the man whom Killian remembered to be the Captain's first mate, then stepped back to watch the punishment carry on and on until twenty lashes were executed when the master called out for his man to stop and Killian was finally cut down by his brother as he watched himself collapse heavily into Liam's arms.

Tears slipped down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes, not only because of the anguish that arose within him, but also because he had become terrified of the new and unknown memories that now haunted him. He suddenly remembered them as though they had been buried too deeply within the back of his mind and yet he also remembered a life where these dark instances never happened.

" _What were you thinking, brother?_ " Killian then heard his brother ask him when another glimmer flashed before him once more. " _I told you not to go near that woman. I warned you what would happen if you so much as looked at her and now you're ill. Why the bloody hell did you have to risk your life, for her? Silver can give the orders to kill you. If you keep defying him… There's only so much he'll let you get away with. Do you understand what I'm telling you? Do you even care?_ "

" _Just stop,_ " Liam continued angrily as he picked up another clean rag from within a water bucket and tossed it at him without bothering to ring it out first. " _I know you don't ever mean to do it, Killian. But you do it. All the time. Eventually, there won't be anything I can do for you any longer and eventually… eventually I might have to let you continue to make your own mistakes without me being here to clean up after you. I don't want to ever leave you. But damn it, Killian! I can't watch you die!_ "

Just as angrily, Killian heard himself answer, " _Those bastards were attacking her. I couldn't just stand by and let them hurt her. Ignoring it would have made me a coward. I told you that you should have left me. You should have joined the King's Navy and then you wouldn't have had to see any of that. You're well suited to be a Captain for the King. I'm not. I suggest next time, you take that chance._ "

Another glimmer arose as the older Jones coldly replied, " _If they die out there, then so be it. That's on them!_ "

" _I never thought I'd hear words so cruel coming out of your mouth,_ " he responded in disappointment as he saw himself freeze in a doorway of the room they were in, then turned his head to look back at his brother.

" _If it's the only way to get through to you, then maybe Silver was right about at least one thing,_ " Liam replied cruelly. " _I've coddled you too long._ "

Killian stared at him miserably within another flash until he began to walk away as he stated, " _Well, luckily you won't have to do so any longer._ "

At long last, the glimmers faded away when these moments within his past ended and no more changes continued to yet affect him. Killian breathed heavily while he struggled to make any sense of it all. Unfortunately, understanding never came to him before he began to lose consciousness as Zelena returned once more.

While the Wicked Witch stared down at the Savior's love, Zelena waved her hand over him and the enchanted ropes loosened and dropped away, then she slowly knelt down beside him as she maliciously said, "Well… Aren't you a pretty site. I wasn't oblivious to your pain all this time of course. If I thought that by healing your shoulder the rest of the way would do you any good, I might have. I do believe you're hiding the real reason for your suffering from me. But no matter. It's time, Captain. You're about to see just how much Emma's family and friends really care about you. And since the Savior has failed to make it home, your life is in Regina's hands now. I'd say the odds are not in your favor. The two of you are nothing more than old acquaintances who simply tolerate one another because you live in the same world. Shall we see that I'm right?"


	19. Chapter 19

Coming Back to You

Chapter Nineteen

Emma, David, Killian, and Liam walked for hours late into the night along the river, even through the shallow waters when they came upon them to try to avoid leaving footprints behind as much as possible for Silver and his men to track. They spoke quietly amongst themselves in effort to ease the strain that had fallen between them. However, Killian didn't say anymore to Liam since they first started running away from the fight that broke out between those unknown to them, unless it was necessary and that was only to figure out where they needed to go to find a safe place to rest.

After awhile, Emma pulled away from the others, except David followed his daughter as they continued walking behind the brothers. He knew she was feeling guilty about the trouble that's fallen between Killian and Liam, but he also knew she was worried about having to meet the Dark One in this time and trying to get back home as well.

As her father, he wanted to reassure her that none of this was really her fault, at least no more than it was his own. But he knew she wouldn't believe him right now. If they could get home and make things right, somehow fix the timeline the way it was meant to play out like she and Hook had done before, only then she'd be all right too. Not to mention himself.

But there was something David needed to speak with her about that was more pressing and so when he knew they were out of earshot from their friends, he turned to Emma and whispered, "Look… I don't want to stress you out any more than you already are, but we really ought to talk about what you spoke to Hoo… Killian about while you were talking down by the river. And the fact that you used your powers to heal him."

Emma looked over at him worryingly until she turned her eyes to Killian walking ahead of them and then let out a sigh as she answered, "He never would have been able to walk all this way if I hadn't. As it is, we're all exhausted. Killian would have lost consciousness even with our help dragging him along between us and then we only would have been able to carry him so far. Besides, I couldn't just let him keep on suffering when there was something I could do for him to take his pain away. You and I both know we can trust him."

"You're right, but do you think we can trust his brother?" David asked out of concern while he too looked ahead of them towards Liam. "You heard him when he said he came out here to bring Killian back to Silver. If he was willing to bring his brother back to that pirate to face punishment, do you really think he won't sell us out if Silver and his men catch up to us?"

"Liam is only trying to protect him," she responded, though she wasn't sure if she really believed what she was saying herself, despite her superpower confirming he had meant what he said back then. "He doesn't trust us and he believed that bringing Killian back to their Captain was his best chance to keep him alive. You heard him earlier. He only wants to protect him and Liam did ask for our help."

Emma then looked down at the ground in front of her feet while she continued, "As for what I talked to Killian about by the river… I told him about the man he is now, without actually telling him they're one in the same. He somehow feels as though he knows me and I felt as though I needed to try to explain why. I told him he reminded me of a man I care about from our own land. I wanted to reassure Killian he's better than he believes himself to be. I didn't give anything away. I also tried to tell him his brother was proud of him and that he loves him. I'm not really sure if anything got through to him or not. With the way he's feeling right now, I doubt it."

David nodded and then he replied, "I'm sure you did the best that you could. And even though it was risky, you did the right thing. Believe me, I understand. I have to say, seeing Hook like this and knowing what's to come for him, so long as we put things right again… It's no wonder he becomes a pirate and a villain for centuries. I had no idea his life was so tragic. Yet it also makes me understand now, why you've been able to change him back and it's not just because you're the Savior and it's what you do. It's not because of a simple attraction, or even just because you were kind to him. He's always been a good man, buried beneath two hundred years of pain and torment. Don't tell Hook I've said this, but I've come to see him more as a friend now, than just a pirate."

"I've seen Killian in an all new light too and it makes me all that much happier to be a part of his life," she whispered again more worryingly when she finally turned her head back to him. "But Dad, just like I told you on Silver's ship… none of this was supposed to happen to him or to Liam. We've changed both of their pasts and I might have gotten them killed for running away. You heard Liam. Silver will be after Killian by now. What if he's captured again? If Killian dies…"

"Then we'll never have known him in our time and his life, as well as his brother's, are forever altered," David finished what she was about to say for her. "And so will ours be. You'll never have found the man who truly makes you happier than you could have ever been with Graham, Walsh, or even Neal. It's our job to keep Killian alive so that he'll survive to live in our time. Otherwise we might find ourselves in one of those paradoxes like Doc talks about in the Back to the Future movies."

Emma couldn't help, but laugh at her father's effort to lighten the mood by reminding her again of Killian's confusion when she had quoted the same movie to him during their own little adventure to the past, then laughed as well, as he reacted smugly, "What? It's the truth, isn't it? It could be a real problem. I'm not joking."

When she let her laughter fade as she became somber again, she answered, "Oh God, I hope not. We need to fix this. Make things right somehow and neither Killian, nor Liam can ever remember we've ever been here. There has to be a way to put their lives back on track so they'll go on as normal and that their relationship won't be tainted or destroyed. Even if doing so means that we'd be returning Killian to slavery under that bastard, Silver."

"Is everything all right?" Killian asked in concern when he finally slowed down to wait for them to catch up, having looked back minutes earlier only to find Emma and her father speaking quietly amongst themselves several feet behind them. "Do you need to rest? Liam says we're almost to this place he believes we can be safe at for awhile."

"We're fine," Emma responded with a smile as she looked at him tenderly. "Let's keep going. But out of curiosity, where are we headed? To a village nearby? I think I'm beginning to recognize our surroundings a little more."

Liam then slowed down as well and replied, "Actually it's not far from a village, but it's far enough to be well secluded and unknown to anyone around anymore. Not too far now, there's an old hollow tree that's long since been abandoned by the one who made it into a dwelling place. I only know of it because I remember… our father taking us here when Killian was barely a year old to visit a friend of his."

At the mention of their father, Killian looked away with sadness in his eyes and walked on ahead again to keep them from seeing his grief while the older Jones watched after him, then said quietly, "He can't stand talking about our father and any time he ever does it's when he's talking poorly of himself."

"Do you have any idea why your father left you and Killian behind and forced you into this kind of life?" Emma sadly asked, while keeping her eyes ahead on Killian.

"Apparently he was a wanted man," Liam answered curtly. "For thievery. One night he was with us and the next morning he was gone, having sold us both into a life of servitude to a pirate in exchange for a rowboat to escape from the authorities chasing after him. If I ever see him again in my lifetime, I swear I will kill him for he did to Killian. As much as it hurts me that he could leave us, it's hurt my brother far worse than he's even been able to admit. It's mostly why he is the way he is. Lost and broken."

David took his daughter's hand in his as she wiped away a single tear that slipped down her cheek with the other, then with remorse he simply responded, "I'm so sorry. But he's going to be alright. He just needs time and a chance at a new life away from slavery."

The brother nodded and then replied, "That's exactly what I've said. But enough about that. We're just about there. Follow me."


	20. Chapter 20

Coming Back For You

Chapter Twenty

The Savior, her father, and the two slaves finally arrived at the hollow tree just as Liam had described to them. There wasn't a lot of space, but there was more room than both Emma and David expected. Killian found what little remained of the former resident's things packed into a corner of the tree, including a couple of candles. He quickly pulled them from the crate he found them in and spread them out upon some of the tree's knots, then pulled out his piece of flint to strike a fire so that he could light them for everyone to be able to see around them. In doing so, a crow resting on a small perch above them squawked, but it remained where it was as if to watch over the new arrivals.

"Don't worry," Liam said quietly as he looked back between the strangers turned allies to them and saw the look of concern on their faces. "We're plenty safe here. It may not look like much, but as I said before it's secluded and hidden away from the places where Silver and his men would look for us."

"And what about Tutiloo?" Killian asked curtly. "Surely Silver's brought him along with them."

David questioned, "Who is this, Tutiloo?"

The older Jones sighed and then he replied, "He's an expert tracker. But we kept to walking within the river to avoid leaving footsteps as much as was possible, making those we did leave behind far apart and spread out. It will be some time before they manage to find this place and hopefully by then we'll be gone again. Are you absolutely certain that our only chance at helping ourselves, is to find the Dark One?"

"It's the only way we know of," Emma quietly answered as she sat down upon the ground, while Killian began to carve one of the smaller branches into a sharp weapon to use as a tool to hunt with.

"Killian, what are you doing?" his brother then asked upon seeing him do so.

Without looking at him, the younger man responded, "Someone needs to go out to find food. None of us have eaten since… well, since I don't know when."

Liam retorted, "Absolutely not. If anyone's going to go out there looking for food, it'll be me. Silver's looking for you. You need to stay here so you'll be safe, and try to rest while you can. Emma may have healed you..."

"I'm fine," Killian interrupted him brusquely, turning to him at last. "I'm not incapable of pulling my own weight."

"I'll stay here with your brother," Emma quickly replied to Liam before a fight between the two brothers could escalate, then turned to look over at Killian. "Dad, you can go out to gather us something to eat with Liam. I can use my magic to protect Killian. I may even be able to use it to create a cloaking spell around this place that only the four of us will be able to see through, except I've never actually tried to create one myself before. But I've seen Regina do it plenty of times."

Both Killian and Liam stared at her in confusion until David spoke up apprehensively upon his daughter mentioning Regina's name even if it, or mention of the Evil Queen, meant nothing to the brothers, saying, "You can do it."

Emma nodded, then raised her hands as she closed her eyes to summon her magic and when she succeeded in putting up her spell, Killian looked over at the Savior with wonder and whispered, "You're amazing, love."

"You can us my sword," David stated as he unsheathed what was really Hook's blade from his scabbard and handed it over to Liam, after Killian quickly looked away from Emma feeling ashamed once again by his forwardness towards the woman he hardly knew, while the Savior just smiled upon feeling flattered. "It's a good blade."

"What will you use?" Liam asked the Prince as he took the sword from him, though while he kept his eyes on his brother upon noticing his discomfort until he turned back to David again as he watched him also pull a strange pistol of sorts from his belt as well. "What kind of pistol is that?"

Charming smiled as he checked the clip within his weapon and the extras he luckily carried with him to make sure that the service weapon was loaded and able to be reloaded, then he answered, "A brand new kind. Unfortunately, they're only available in our land."

He turned to Emma and Killian again and was about to say something else until he was then interrupted when the crow flew down as it flapped its wings wildly at the newcomers within the tree. But while the brothers attempted to shoo it away, it flew down to the ground and then suddenly became engulfed by black smoke as the winged creature transformed into a man Emma and David immediately recognized to be the Dark One before Rumplestiltskin from the robes and his crocodile like skin.

David immediately pointed his gun at him and the Savior raised her hands as light magic sparked within her palms while they both moved in front of the brothers in order to protect Killian and Liam should the Dark One attack them. Instead, he simply stood there with a twisted smile on his face until he spoke before either them could.

He said to the heroes reservedly, "Well… I must say, I never thought I would live to see a Savior within my lifetime. I am truly impressed, my dear. My name, is Zoso."

"How are you here?" Emma asked coldly, keeping her eyes firmly on the villain before them. "We've been looking for you. It's no coincidence that you've found us first."

"You're right," the Dark One responded. "My apologies for surprising you. But I foresaw a powerful hero arriving in this time, from another long into the future. All Dark Ones have their own unique abilities which you well may know. And the gift, or curse, of foresight is one which I possess. I can only imagine how difficult falling so far into the past had to be for you both."

Killian looked between him and Emma strangely and with confusion, then turned his attention to her as he questioned, "Emma… what is he talking about? You're not… You're from another… time?"

Before she could try to explain herself, Zoso then focused on the younger slave before him and started to move towards him until both Emma and her father stepped between them and pulled Killian further behind them, while the villain continued, "And you… a man who has yet to embark on quite an extraordinary destiny. There is much darkness in you. I can feel it. You would make an excellent Dark…"

"Leave him alone!" Emma angrily interrupted to protect Killian from the dark being's cruel taunts and temptation, then attempted to explain their situation out of desperation, though she feared Killian's reaction to the truth about them being from the future and possibly learning of how they had changed certain events within his and his brother's lives. "We didn't come here for any of your head games. We came because we need your help. You know the truth about who I am and where, or when my father and I are from. We know there's a wand that exists, that has the power to recreate any magic ever to have been wielded. We have to…"

"Yes, you have to get back home," Zoso callously replied before she could finish in her own enlightenment. "But first… you need to fix the mistakes you've made since falling into this time. Mainly the ones you've made changing these slaves' futures. I understand."

Liam glared at the woman as he spoke up coldly asking, "Emma, what is he talking about?"

The Savior looked worryingly between him and Killian, who had lowered his head away from her to try to hide his own anger disappointment, while David bellowed at the Dark One crossly, "You know an awful lot about us and of the consequences by us being here, yet you seem to have no qualms about changing the future even more than we already have. Why?!"

"I don't care about keeping the future a secret, because I have no motive for assuring that it remains intact," Zoso answered snidely. "I refuse to remain trapped under this curse that would keep me alive through your time."

"Just tell us if there's a way to do this," Emma responded with frustration. "You want to be rid of your curse…"

The Dark One cut her off as stated, "You know the only way that's possible. And I sense neither of you heroes will take up my place. The brothers Jones however… The younger one would be best, but I sense that the older one has his own demons. Either one would be a fine choice. If you can convince them to do so, perhaps by telling them it's all for the greater good, I can get you exactly what you need to get you what you want too."

All of a sudden, Killian stormed out of the hollow tree, slamming his fist against the tree's base as he passed through the doorway and Emma looked to him while she fearfully cried after him shouting, "Killian, wait!"

"I suggest you go after him, Savior," Zoso maliciously said to stop Emma when she was about to release a burst of magic at him. "Those pirates are still out there looking for him. As for our deal, I will be back by noon tomorrow for your decision. But refuse and you might not ever get home. You will never see the man you can't admit you love, again."

"No!" she yelled when he vanished, then quickly grabbed Liam's arm when he started after his brother until he looked into her eyes and nodded when she spoke next. "Please… He needs to hear from me. I can help him. I promise."


	21. Chapter 21

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twenty-One

After Emma walked out to go after his brother, David slowly turned to Liam with concern in his eyes, but before he could try to explain, Liam turned his head to him as well and then spoke up coldly saying, "The only reason why I agreed to allowing Emma to try to help Killian just now… is because I know that he won't listen to me after the things I said about him and she appears to genuinely care about him. I didn't understand it before and I'm not sure I understand it any more now. But I need to know what that monster was talking about. Why was he so interested in Killian? How did he know about the darkness Killian constantly fights against?"

The Prince sighed as he worryingly responded, "Because he's the Dark One and he has the ability to…"

"He said that he sensed the darkness within him, but what did he mean by Killian's destiny?" Liam interrupted more curtly. "You and Emma didn't seem too surprised or confused by what the Dark One was talking about. I want to know whatever you know, including how you really know my brother. And how have you changed our future?"

"We came from another time two hundred years in the future," Charming replied quietly as he rubbed his hand over his eyes in frustration, then began to pace slowly while Liam kept his eyes trained on him. "We fell through a time portal that was created by a witch we were fighting against. Arriving here was an accident as we were forced into it and by the time realized where and when we were, it was too late to change our minds about travelling onboard Silver's ship where we discovered you and your brother were onboard. Everything that's happened, especially to Killian… You have to believe we never meant for him to be hurt. Look, time travel is dangerous which is why we were trying to prevent it. And while I know that you're confused and want to know how all of this connects to your brother, how we know him... As hard as this will be for you, it's best that you don't know any more than you already do. If we tell you, you will do whatever it takes to protect Killian from all that might still happen to him from here on out and it could change your futures in worse ways than they already have been. But we promise you, my daughter and I are going to find a way to fix all of this."

The older Jones glanced at him and looked as though he was about to say something until he turned away again while he ran his hand over his head in frustration, then within a few minutes as he struggled to grasp any of what the Prince was telling him, Liam finally said, "I understand that you mean well. I do and I think you really do care about my brother. But how can he still be alive two hundred years from now? Why does the Dark One want Killian to accept this deal so badly? He may accept either of us, but he wants Killian."

David leaned back against the wall behind him and answered, "Honestly, we don't know his whole story. His past… well, as you know far more than we do that it's difficult for him to share with any of us including Emma. He lived in a land that allowed him to live for centuries without aging, seeking revenge on a villain who caused him much heartache. That villain turns out to be the next Dark One after this one, who still lives in our time as well."

"It took me a long time to convince him to fight to live," he responded in disbelief. "He's never tried to end his life outwardly, but… when we were slaves for that bastard, Killian messed up often so that Silver would punish him and then would drink himself into a stupor. A part of him wanted to die. He still does. Our father abandoned us and forced us both into this hell, but Killian was broken far worse than I was, just like I told you. He wished for death to take him from this life often. Now you're telling me he comes to discover a world that will prolong his life for centuries while his darkness consumes him? Yet, you and Emma still have come to care for him? Tell me the truth. Does Emma love my brother?"

"He's worked very hard to change from the man he was when we first met him," David replied sincerely. "I'm not really the best person to ask about this because our friendship has been rocky. But he is a good man. And Emma… I know she cares about him very deeply and would tell you that he's a hero. After everything he's suffered, he has become a man I would trust with my life."

Liam lowered his head and struggled to come to terms with all that he was just told, then David stated again, "Look, I've told you far too much and surely Emma will probably tell Killian just as much. If we can get hold of that wand that will send me and my daughter home, or find ourselves another way to do so without taking the Dark One's deal, then you and your brother cannot remember any of this. You can't remember that we've ever been here so that none of this knowledge can change your futures. Because if Killian dies here in this time… if we never come to know him, then the consequences could be devastating for all of us. Your lives have to somehow go back to how they've always been, which means we need a way to repair our damage. And when Zoso returns for his answer, you cannot agree to his deal even if it's to protect Killian or to help us get home. There's no good that comes from becoming the Dark One."

The older Jones nodded and then answered, "I appreciate your honesty. But I really need to speak with my brother, now more so than ever. Just in case things continue to get worse, I can't risk him never knowing how sorry I am for saying the things I said about him. He was right that a part of me does resent him. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I did the best I could to hide it from him because I wanted to protect him. I love my brother, David. I have to makes things right between us. Let's go find him and your daughter."


	22. Chapter 22

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twenty-Two

Emma searched for Killian for almost a half an hour and the longer it took for her to find him, the more afraid she was that he had been caught by Captain Silver and his men she knew were still looking for him and his brother. However, when she did finally find him, the one consequence to never cross her mind was happening and it frightened her worse than him being killed by his enemies. Knowing her Killian as well as she did, the thought that he was once capable of taking his own life was never even a possibility.

"Killian, please…" she gently cried out with fear for him in her voice, as she slowly approached him from behind upon the cliff's edge where he stood looking down at the rushing waters below him. "Please, you don't want to do this. I can only imagine what you're thinking right now, but… I couldn't tell you the whole truth about where we're from. As it is, we've already told you too much and the consequences…"

"Is that why you believe I'm here?" he asked desolately without turning around to look at her. "Because you think I can't understand why you're keeping the truth about who you are or where you're from a secret from me? I don't care about any of that. Please, stop. Don't come any closer."

Emma did as he asked, then with concern she stated, "If that's not why we're here, help me to understand. I just want to help you. Liam wanted to come, but I think he was afraid you wouldn't listen to him if he did. That's why I'm here and not him."

Killian turned his head in her direction still without turning around or looking into her eyes, then he answered quietly, "I'm not upset you lied to me. In fact, I don't believe you have. I believe you. I'm not upset with you."

"Then why are you out here?" she questioned him worryingly. "Silver is still out there."

"I don't care about him any longer," he replied sadly, then turned to face her and she could see the same look of hopelessness in his eyes, the same darkness that she's seen in the man she's come to love more than once when they've faced countless enemies that have tried to pull them apart.

The last time she remembered seeing this look on him was shortly after they had returned to Storybrooke from their missing year, on the night Zelena had cursed his lips in order to rid her of her powers for the Wicked Witch as he walked away from Emma, having refused to accept her invitation to join them all for dinner at Granny's in order to protect her. She didn't know so then, but she later understood that he believed he would never win her heart as he hoped to since their first kiss in Neverland because he believed he was unworthy, just as he believed now.

Killian finally looked into her eyes as he continued, "You and your father have risked a lot for me and Liam yourselves. And for what? Because I remind you of a man you know from whatever land you're from? I've tried to deny what I've foolishly come to feel for you in just a few days, Emma. Because I know you're in love with someone else, but I can't. And now you're going to be returning to a time in the future and I'll never see you again. On top of that, I've lost Liam too and he's the only person who has cared whether or not I live or die. My life will go on the same as before because you have to fix the mistakes you've made by coming here, which means that I'll go back to being a slave for that bastard and Liam will go on to become an officer within the King's Navy as he deserves to be without me because I can't possibly measure up to him. And yet… The things the Dark One said, about some destiny he believes I've yet to fulfill… Is it true?"

"Is what true?" she asked nervously while struggling to keep her emotions inside her.

"This man you love…" Killian responded with fear. "This man you claim I remind you of… Are we one in the same? It that really why there's this connection between us?"

Emma nodded slowly and then whispered, "Yes. But I can't explain everything. You just have to believe me that you're not always going to be a slave."

When she couldn't finish what she was trying to tell him, he answered angrily, "You're wrong! I know what I am and have been for the last sixteen years because my own father abandoned me, abandoned us. And it was my fault. I'm a slave and that's all I will ever be despite what you might think, Emma. I am not that man. I can't be. I'm not some bloody hero as much as I wish I could be."

"He's certainly right about that," Silver replied cruelly when he suddenly appeared from the woods surrounding the cliff as his men immediately charged Emma and Killian and apprehended them both before either one of them had the chance to react or to fight back. "You never should have tried to escape from me, Jones. Even if it was for this woman."

"For God sakes… let her go," Killian fearfully cried out as Rooker and another of the pirates shoved him once again to knees before their Captain, while another two men held Emma firmly between them despite her struggle to break free enough to be able to use her powers to help them. "Silver, you bastard! It's me you want. You have no need to take her too."

He then stopped struggling against the men and stared up at the pirates' leader while he spoke again despondently saying, "I won't fight you in going back. I know that I was a fool to run, but she had nothing to do with it."

Silver backhanded him roughly causing Killian to fall hard against the ground until the two men who were holding his upper body up pulled him back to his knees again, as he gasped painfully when Rooker grabbed him by his hair and held him firmly in his grip, all while Emma shouted, "Stop! What is it you really want? Is it money? If you just let him go, I can get you whatever amount of money you want."

"There's no amount of money that will save him, Madame," the pirate Captain responded smugly. "Perhaps I might have felt differently before you left my ship and he escaped. But not now. Now my men are going to bring you along with us back to the Hispaniola and as for this good for nothing slave…"

"I'm going to kill him," he continued as he moved to stand above his slave, staring coldly into his eyes. "He has defied me one too many times and I won't stand for it any longer. Even if it does put me out one worker. He was never very good anyways. Now, Jones… where is your brother?"

"Go to hell," Killian answered steadfastly. "He's long gone. Liam realized I wasn't worth protecting any longer and left to join the King's Navy. As he should have done a week ago."

Silver just laughed when he pulled his sword from its scabbard, then raised it above Killian's head while Emma fought harder against the pirates still holding her strongly as she screamed out for them to stop again, but when the Captain was about to plunge his blade into Killian's chest, a shot sounded and one of the men holding Emma fell to the ground dead. She and Killian both turned their heads in the direction the shot came from, as did Silver and most of his crew just in time to see both Liam and David running towards them to attack.

Emma took the moment the pirates all froze and immediately blasted the second man holding her back using her magic despite the risk in doing so, then grabbed her own service weapon to aim it directly at Silver as she said angrily, "Order your men to release Killian. Now!"

"You heard her," Liam called out firmly, holding the sword David had given him earlier against the first mate's back while the Prince aimed his own gun towards the direction of the pirates in case any of them attempted to attack them. "Release my brother. We will no longer be your slaves, Silver. If you want to live past this moment, you have to vow you will never come after either one of us again. And if you break your vow…"

"You will kill me the next time we meet?" the Captain questioned callously, then he finally turned to Rooker and nodded to indicate for him to do as they were being told. "Release him. For now, do what they say."

Once the men did as Silver ordered them to do, Killian slowly and weakly stood again as he wiped away the blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth where Silver had struck him with the back of his hand and then moved to stand beside his brother. He then bent down to pick up one of the swords a few of the pirates had dropped and joined in on holding their enemies back.

The Savior cautiously moved between the pirates to join with her father, Killian, and Liam, but as she did so, one of the pirates shouted out for them to attack despite Silver's orders to stand down and fired his pistol towards Liam. Luckily for the older Jones the musket ball went wide and embedded itself into the tree behind him, but the shot was enough to ignite a fight between the heroes and villains who more than doubled the four.

Emma fired off a few shots of her own striking down two of the pirates, while David killed another as his shot knocked the pirate back into the river below. Liam fought against Rooker and Killian clashed swords against the pirate whose nose he had broken earlier. Emma then used her magic again to force a small number of them over the cliff as well and it wasn't long before most of the men had either been struck down, including Rooker, they ran off in fear of the woman's power believing her to be a witch, or they surrendered for the same reason.

What no one noticed was that Captain Silver was among those who had slipped away in the battle, except he didn't run like the others. Instead, he crouched down low within the forest surrounding the cliff in the belief he was keeping himself hidden, then aimed his pistol at Killian's back and fired one last shot. However, Liam turned around just in time to see the man who had been his and his brother's slave master for so long and suddenly jumped in front of him to protect his brother when the weapon discharged, as the musket ball struck him in his stomach.

Killian caught Liam when he fell heavily against him and they both collapsed to the ground against the older Jones' weight while the younger brother pulled him into his arms, then struggled to stifle the blood as he excruciatingly cried, "Liam! No! Liam, hold on. Emma!"

The Savior immediately rushed over to them and tried to heal his wound as she had done for Killian earlier that evening, while David fired several shots towards the cruel pirate Captain as he fled after the rest of his surviving men. The Prince then turned back to the brothers and his daughter on the ground before him and despite her efforts to use her magic, she found that she suddenly couldn't. Liam fought against his pain while he stared up at his brother and struggled to keep breathing.

Killian didn't understand why she wasn't doing for Liam like she had done for him as he looked over at Emma while tears streamed down his cheeks and asked angrily, "What are you doing? Can't you heal him?"

"I don't… something's blocking my magic," she stuttered, looking up at her father with fear for Killian in her eyes.

"Kill… Killian, it's all ri… right," the older Jones whispered weakly while he reached up to try to pull his brother close so he could talk to him before he died. "You'll be alright. And so… so will I. You just have to… to be strong. Let them help you."

Killian fought to keep his anger and grief under control while he tightened his grip on him and pleaded, "Liam, please… I can't lose you too."

Liam weakly reached his hand up to his brother's cheek while a tear also slipped from his eyes as he replied sadly, "You won't. Not really. You have to… to know about what I said about you to Em… Emma earlier… about you being a slave? You have to under… stand. I was only trying to convince… Emma to walk away. I did… didn't believe she really cared about you. But I… I do now. Can you… Can you forgive me, Killian?"

"I do," the younger Jones responded while he looked into Liam's eyes until they finally closed, as Liam died. "Liam? No."

"I'm so… so sorry," Emma uttered despondently when Killian pulled his brother up against his chest and wept over his loss, while David knelt down with them on the ground as he reached out to take his daughter's hand.

Unfortunately, their grieving was interrupted when one of the pirates they believed was dead on the cliff several feet away slowly rose up to his feet and magically transformed himself back into his true form, into the Dark One. Emma and David immediately rose back to their feet as she wiped away the tears from her eyes, then stood between him and Killian.

The Savior spoke up angrily saying, "You did this. You blocked my magic so that I couldn't heal him. You even started this fight by firing the first shot. How could you do this?!"

Zoso looked between them as he answered eccentrically, "I wasn't the one who killed the brother…. That was Captain Silver. I only meant to give the younger Jones more of a motivation to take my deal. He just needed a little push."

"Killian will never agree to become the Dark One," Emma retorted steadfastly, then immediately picked up one of the fallen swords and thrust it up against the villain's throat despite knowing threatening him would do them no good. "We'll find another way to fix this without your help. Get the hell out of here. Now!"

"How about we let the boy decide for himself whether or not he would like to live long enough to find a way to defeat death and find a way to bring his brother back to life?" the Dark One smugly replied. "He will also have all the power within his fingertips to make his enemies pay for all of his suffering."

However, Killian raised his head as he looked up at the dark being before him coldly and then responded, "I trust Emma and David. I will never trust you."

Suddenly, the Silver Fairy appeared above their heads as she flew before them and glared at the villain while she stated, "You heard them, Zoso. You no longer have business here. It's time for you to leave."


	23. Chapter 23

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twenty-Three

While Zelena was leaning over him, another strange glimpse entered Killian's mind as he saw and felt as Captain Silver backhanded him roughly, causing him to fall hard against the ground until the two men who were holding his upper body up pulled him back to his knees again, then gasped painfully when Rooker grabbed him by his hair and held him firmly in his grip. The Wicked Witch saw him wince as the flash startled her prisoner.

She couldn't help, but become intrigued by whatever was really going on with him. However, knowing he wouldn't answer her even if he wasn't slowly losing consciousness, Zelena pulled him over onto his stomach and laid her hand over his shoulder to finally heal his wound the rest of the way in order to see what else might be causing his pain, only to notice a deep ugly scar appearing to be years old across the back of his neck that she knew wasn't there two nights before from having healed him as much as she had. She then followed the scar down with her eyes and roughly pulled back the clothes covering his back enough to see a number of other scars just like the one on his neck.

The witch rolled him over again and looked into his half closed eyes that were unseeing, then she tapped his face to try to rouse him as she asked rhetorically, "What exactly is happening to you, mmm… Captain?"

He closed his eyes and turned his head away from her, yet she continued saying, "Well, I was hoping you would be more aware for what we're about to do, but then I suppose it doesn't really matter. So long as you survive long enough for me to face off against Regina, and those two dragons my sister doesn't think I'm well aware of the heroes enlisting to fight for them."

" _I'm going to kill him,_ " Killian heard his former master tell someone else he saw standing among the pirates with them who once again appeared only as a blur to him when the glimmers continued, as he moved to stand above his slave, staring coldly into his eyes. " _He has defied me one too many times and I won't stand for it any longer. Even if it does put me out one worker. He was never very good anyways. Now, Jones… where is your brother?_ "

" _Go to hell,_ " Killian retorted steadfastly. " _He's long gone. Liam realized I wasn't worth protecting any longer and left to join the King's Navy. As he should have done a week ago._ "

He saw as Silver just laughed when he pulled his sword from its scabbard, then raised it above Killian's head while the unknown woman fought harder against the pirates still holding her strongly as she screamed out for them to stop again, but when the Captain was about to plunge his blade into Killian's chest, a shot sounded and one of the men holding her fell to the ground dead. Killian turned his head in the direction the shot came from, as did Silver and most of his crew just in time to see both Liam and the other blurry figure from his vision of them on Silver's ship running towards them to attack the pirates.

The glimmer changed while a flash of Liam appeared before his eyes as Liam suddenly jumped in front of him to protect his brother and a weapon discharged, the musket ball striking him in his stomach, then Killian caught him when he fell heavily against him and they both collapsed to the ground against the older Jones' weight while the younger brother pulled him into his arms, struggling to stifle the blood as he excruciatingly cried, " _Liam! No! Liam, hold on._ "

Killian looked over at the woman with them while tears streamed down his cheeks as he heard himself asking her angrily, " _What are you doing? Can't you heal him?_ "

" _I don't… something's blocking my magic,_ " she stuttered.

" _Kill… Killian, it's all ri… right,_ " the older Jones whispered weakly while he reached up to try to pull his brother close so he could talk to him before he died. " _You'll be alright. And so… so will I. You just have to… to be strong. Let them help you._ "

Killian fought to keep his anger and grief under control while he tightened his grip on him and pleaded, " _Liam, please… I can't lose you too._ "

Liam weakly reached his hand up to his brother's cheek while a tear also slipped from his eyes as he replied sadly, " _You won't. Not really. Can you… Can you forgive me, Killian?_ "

" _Killian will never agree to become the Dark One,_ " the unknown woman then responded steadfastly as the flash changed, then he struggled to see her face when she immediately picked up one of the fallen swords and thrust it up against the throat of a new villain who looked as Rumplestiltskin once did before Storybrooke. " _We'll find another way to fix this without your help. Get the hell out of here. Now!_ "

" _How about we let the boy decide for himself whether or not he would like to live long enough to find a way to defeat death and find a way to bring his brother back to life?_ " the Dark One smugly answered. " _He will also have all the power within his fingertips to make his enemies pay for all of his suffering._ "

When the glimmers stopped again and his body finally settled, Zelena slapped him harder to try to bring him back to the present after he strangely drifted off into whatever was causing him to writhe weakly on the ground before her. However, Killian mercifully lost consciousness and it was obvious he wouldn't be waking without the effort she didn't have time to deal with. So, she rose back to her feet, then magiced the cauldron she had begun to mix her potion for her fight against the Captain's friends and non friends alike, outside onto the open land several feet below in front of the windmill. Before vanishing from the room at the top of the winding stairs herself, the Wicked Witch looked down at Hook one last time and flicked her wrists as circle of green flames suddenly ignited around him. She simply laughed and then disappeared to wait for his rescue to arrive.

Meanwhile…

Still within the loft, the heroes continued to talk while they tried to come up with ways to counteract whatever plans the Wicked Witch had in store and when Henry mentioned an idea that involved him joining them in the impending fight against Zelena, Regina immediately objected his plan as she stated, "No… no way. You're not going anywhere near this fight. God knows what my sister has in mind. I won't let you get hurt and certainly not because of my family because she's pissed off at me."

The teenager glared at her with frustration as he replied, "When are you ever going to see that I'm no longer a kid. I mean… I am kind of a kid, but I'm not ten anymore. I want to be able to help my friends when trouble arises and not just wait for news that everything's going to be okay."

"You may not be ten, but you are my son and therefore you have to do as I say," Regina responded firmly. "Besides, you can still help us from here by continuing to look for something that will get your other mother and grandfather home."

"I've been looking," Henry responded curtly. "For two days we've all been looking. Mom and Hook got home the last time because they were the one who found a way. We don't know if we ever did anything to help them while they were missing because the timelines overlapped since they returned seconds after they disappeared, but… My point is, they will find their way home again. And both Gold's and Isaac's plans are currently on hold right now because of Zelena."

The Mayor was about to tell him to work on figuring out how she might have done that, until all of a sudden, a bright green flare arose into the sky from outside of town in the direction of the witch's farmhouse, and Mary Margaret quickly spoke up saying, "I think the battle is about to begin whether we're ready or not. She's signaling us to come out."

Regina agreed as she stared coldly up at her sister's magic and then turned back to Henry again as she whispered sternly, "I want you to stay here, Henry. Do you hear me? There will be plenty of opportunities for you to help us in other battles. You know how things work around here. I just want you to be safe. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," he finally answered with a little reluctance. "I promise to stay here. Besides, someone has to watch Neal. We'll be fine."

"Good," she replied with a smile, then stood straight again and turned to Maleficent and Lily. "It looks like it's time you two are up. Do whatever you have to do, but don't kill her. She deserves a prison cell alongside the rest of the criminals we have here in Storybrooke. Good luck."

Maleficent nodded and responded, "You too."

Minutes later…

The former Evil Queen transported herself, Mary Margaret, and Robin all to the woods surrounding the land where Zelena's farmhouse rested so that they wouldn't be seen, while Maleficent did the same for her and her daughter. Except they appeared before Zelena within the wide open space as the Wicked Witch was standing in front of a large black cauldron where whatever dark magic she had conjured was brewing from. She just smiled, then walked around the cauldron while she waved her hand over it to finish her spell.

Maleficent stared at the other villainess strangely and then questioned, "So… you're the Wicked Witch I've heard so much about? I expected something more."

"I'm surprised you don't have green skin," Lily stated smugly. "I've read the Wizard of Oz more than once and you're nothing like I expected. Although, neither was my mother, so…"

"And I was expecting my sister," Zelena interrupted when she cut the younger woman off briskly. "I can't deny I'm disappointed she didn't come herself, but I'm not surprised. You see, I knew she'd come up with some kind of distraction so that the others could try to save Emma's pirate sweetheart. So I had one of my spies find out for me what your plan was. My pet heard you offer to fight me instead. So I came up with a way to fight you myself. Seeing as I'm pregnant, I can't exactly fight off two dragon sorceresses. That's why I came up with this…"

It was then that a giant dragon made of green flames, forged by the witch's dark magic arose from within the cauldron and flew up high into the sky above them as the dragon sorceresses ducked upon being startled by its wailing scream. Zelena laughed and took several steps back, while Lily looked over at her mother worryingly. Maleficent smiled at her and nodded, then her eyes glowed yellow as she suddenly transformed herself into her dark, powerful dragon form. The younger sorceress smiled too and followed Maleficent's lead, also transforming into a dragon. Together they flew up into the sky as they rose up in front of the magic before them, then blew fire at the conjured creature to begin their attack, while Zelena watch them from below.

The other heroes watched the battle for a few minutes where they hid within the trees as it began, until Robin looked back towards the women behind him and said quietly, "We need to go. We need to find Killian."

Mary Margaret was about to answer until Regina laid her hand down on the younger woman's shoulder as they all turned when the windmill none of them have ever seen before slowly became uncloaked, then the former Queen answered, "I think I have a pretty good idea where he might be."

"Where did this windmill come from?" the Archer asked while they cautiously began to approach the structure. "And why would it magically appear before us now."

"Because either Zelena's focusing all of her magic on that monster she's created to fight the others and she can't hold her magic over both, or she doesn't care if we find Hook," Mary Margaret replied nervously. "She's luring us into a trap."

Regina sighed in frustration while they entered the windmill and stared up at the tall winding stairs leading up to the tower, then conjured a fireball within the palm of her hand to light their way or for protection as she responded, "Then I say we spring the trap. Hook needs help now. Don't worry, I can handle whatever my sister's conjured for us."

She immediately magiced the three of them up into the room at the top of the stairs and found Killian lying unconscious upon the floor within the center of Zelena's circle of flames she had conjured around her prisoner. Robin quickly started towards him until both women quickly pulled him back, then the sorceress waved her hands to feel for any other source of magic that might attack them. When she didn't sense anymore, she looked over at Mary Margaret strangely as the Princess did the same.

Mary Margaret whispered, "There's something not right here. This is too easy."

"Maleficent and Lily are busy fighting a dragon made of fire and Killian is badly hurt," Robin retorted. "I'd hardly call this easy."

"The question is, what's wrong with Hook and how do we help him?" Emma's mother asked worryingly as she looked towards the man her daughter was falling in love with in worry.

However, before Regina or Robin could answer her, three of Zelena's winged monkeys screeched as they flew into the room through the window to attack the intruders. Robin quickly tethered one of his arrows to his bow and aimed it at the first creature, until he remembered that they were most likely some of their friends they had yet to discover were missing since the chaos with the Wicked Witch had begun. So when it flew at Mary Margaret, he swiftly shot one of its wings to knock it down to the ground, then struck it in its head to knock the monkey out cold.

The former Evil Queen blasted another creature with her fireball as the archer had done, then used her magic to make it and the third beast lose consciousness without striking them down. Unfortunately, the last of the dark creatures managed to drop what Regina could see was some kind of ashes into the flames still surrounding their friend as they suddenly erupted and flowed into Killian's body until they vanished, then everything fell silent.

When nothing more appeared to be happening, Robin slowly began to approach his friend again, as did the women behind him, while he worryingly called out, "Killian?"

Regina knelt down beside him as she nervously reached out her hand to his neck to feel for a pulse and to sense for her sister's magic, then Mary Margaret began to question, "Is he…?"

"He's burning up inside, but not because of the fire," she whispered fearfully. "Those weren't flames like they appeared to be. Just very dark magic. I've never seen anything like this."

"What's it doing to him?" Robin asked, when Zelena appeared before them within green smoke.

Having heard the archer's concern for the pirate, she answered, "If you really want to know, my magic is burning out his soul and all that makes him human. Although, he really ought to be scream…."

All of a sudden, Killian started to scream and writhe in agony as the witch shouted, "There it is! Having your soul burned out is like being skinned alive! When he awakens, if he ever awakens again, then he won't be any versions of the man you'll recognize. Neither hero nor villain. Just empty and perhaps nothing more than a vegetable whose carcass will be left to rot away within a hospital bed. But I don't expect he'll survive this anguish. You won't be able to call him a survivor any longer!"

"Stop this!" Robin shouted back as he tethered another arrow an aimed it at the woman carrying his child. "Reverse what your magic's doing to him now!"

"Or what?" she retorted cruelly. "Or you'll kill me and our baby? You don't have it in you!"

Regina summoned another fireball within her hand and was about to reply until Lily's dragon form crashed through the roof upon being blasted by the dark dragon after it wounded her, as Maleficent screamed while she continued to fight against it. Thankfully Lily missed the heroes when she fell, but the room suddenly caught on fire and it wasn't long before the windmill would burn to the ground. Robin, Mary Margaret, and Regina all raced forward to pull Killian up between them while Zelena raised her hand to poof herself free of the flames. However, before anyone could vanish from the danger surrounding them while the battle outside between dragons raged on, all motion began to slow until time suddenly stood still.


	24. Chapter 24

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twenty-Four

"There is no deal to be made here," the fairy continued to confront the villain as though she hadn't heard he stranger to this time.

"All right… I will leave," Zoso responded snidely as he looked up at fairytale creature floating above until she transformed herself into human size to stand between him and the others with her wand raised should the Dark One attack. "Good luck finding a way to help them without me."

He flicked his wrist and transformed himself back into the crow he had disguised himself as the first time the others had met him, then flew away as the Silver Fairy then turned back to look down at the two brothers while the younger one mourned the loss of the older Jones. Emma wanted nothing more than to kneel down and pull Killian into her arms, but she knew he wouldn't accept her comfort since she figured that a part of him most likely blamed her for Liam's death. And he had every right to do so.

However, the fairy did kneel down in front of them as she reached out to take Liam's still hand within hers, then spoke up to Killian saying, "I am so sorry about your brother. This shouldn't have happened, but I failed my duty."

Killian raised his head and looked at her strangely as he asked, "What duty? Do I know you?"

"Sadly no," she answered, then took a few steps back and bowed her head. "But I did know your mother, Killian. I was her Fairy Godmother before she too… before she died. She was once from Wonderland as I am. They call me Silvermist."

"If that's true, then you've failed to protect my family more than just once," he replied curtly, then carefully lifted his brother's body into his arms and stood up. "My mother died the night I was born and because a small part of my father always blamed me for her death, he eventually sold both me and Liam to pirates when it served him a purpose. And now Liam is dead too. He was all I had. If you've come to apologize and tell me that you wish to help me know, you can forget it. I want nothing from you."

When Killian turned and was about to walk away from them in order to find a place to bury Liam, Silvermist quickly called out to him, "When your mother died, your father banished me. I should have done something like your mother would have wanted, but I didn't. If a fairy is banished, we are not allowed to return. I'm only here now because I arrived within the Enchanted Forest on other business. I've been assigned to watch over the Dark One after he killed two of our own. But… I was late today."

Killian turned to Emma and David, then bowed his head in despair as he responded more compliantly, "If you really want to be of some help, then help this woman and her father to find their way home to their own time. You can trust them. They've been good to me."

"Before you leave… if it's not too much to ask I hope to see you one last time," he said softly as he looked into Emma's eyes and then walked away from them before she could say anything to him in return.

"If that is what he wishes of me, then I will do what I can to help you," the Silver Fairy answered as she then faced the strangers still standing before her. "But who are you? And what did he mean by your own time?"

Emma glanced at her father, then turned back to Silvermist as she wiped the tears from her eyes and finally spoke up saying, "We've fallen here two hundred years in the past through a time portal created by someone very powerful and very wicked. All that's happened… to Killian and to his brother, it's our fault. We just didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Silvermist sternly replied, "If that's true, then you must have some kind of connection to either Killian or Liam, which means…"

"That Killian still lives within our time," Emma finished for her. "It's a long story, but the man we know him as isn't the man he is now, nor is he the man he was when we first met a few years ago. He's a good man and a hero to all of us in the town we live in. We need to fix our mistakes that have changed his whole life. If we don't, we won't ever know him. But what's worse, he'll have suffered far greater than he did before. If there's anything you can do to help us to right our wrongs, we can give him the life he deserves."

"I believe you and I want to help you to help him, but unfortunately not even fairies have the power to open up a time portal," she responded with concern. "Not even the Dark One can do that because time travel hasn't become possible… not yet. But perhaps there is something I can do. Or rather tell you of a way that you can return home to your time without a portal."

David quickly stated, "Anything you can do. We have to get home. Our family is waiting for us. Emma has a son, her mother, and brother to get back to. And Killian… that is if we can put things back to the way they are meant to be. I have my wife and son."

The Silver Fairy nodded and then answered, "In a Kingdom far from here, the King there has in his possession a very precious gem and entombed within it is a wishing star."

"There's a wishing star here?" Emma questioned eagerly, but then remembered that Elsa was only able to save her sister and brother in law because she had made a wish on one, which might be the same one. "Are there more than one wishing stars in existence? A friend of ours made a wish on one to save the life of her sister. If this wishing star is the same as the one in her possession and we were to use it now, would it mean she won't have it any longer?"

"There are more than one," Silvermist replied sternly. "And if you succeed in returning home with your original timeline intact, it will not affect your friend's wish should she fall into possession of the same star. However, before you get too excited, you have to understand something. The King has sought to use it for himself, for more power and wealth, while many have come from far and wide in hope of being blessed by its wish as well. But none have succeeded because none were pure of heart. I sense much good within you, milady. But are you pure of heart? If you truly wish for this chance to repair this tragedy that never should have occurred, I can use my own magic to transport you to the kingdom. From there you will be on your own and getting ahold of the wishing star will not be easy, as the King will never let it go willingly without his own personal gain."

The Savior looked over at her father, then turned back to the fairy as she responded, "We will deal with the risks as they come along. This wishing star is our only hope. But before you send us there, I need to speak with Killian one more time."

She then transformed herself back into her true size and floated above them as she answered, "All right. But make it quick. I fear I must leave soon in order to continue with my duties."

Emma nodded and then walked away from the fairy and her father so she could find Killian again. He hadn't walked far and once she had found him, Killian was kneeling on the ground over his brother's grave that was made up of both large and small stones alike which he was finishing laying on top of his body.

"I didn't actually expect you would do as I hoped you would," Killian said sadly without turning around to face her like before, having sensed she was the one coming up behind him.

"I couldn't leave without saying goodbye," she replied with remorse and knelt down on the ground in front of him in order to look into his eyes, laying one of her hands on his knee. "I am truly sorry for causing your brother's death. We…"

He interrupted, "You didn't cause this. The Dark One did. And Silver murdered him trying to kill me. Liam's death is on me for running away in the first place and trying to find a better life for myself. He warned me what would happen."

Emma shook her head as she responded, "You're wrong. You don't deserve to keep blaming yourself for all of the tragedies you've suffered for so long. And if you will come with us, we can make our futures right again the way they were always meant to be, together. The Silver Fairy told us of a way to do that, with a wishing star from a kingdom far from here. If we have any hope of getting close enough… We could use your help. If we succeed, none of this will ever have happened and you won't remember we were ever here."

"In time, you will be the man I spoke of, Killian," the Savior whispered gently as she took his face within her hands and looked deep into his eyes to try to plead with him, to help him to understand. "You just have to be strong and endure all that you will face both good and bad until we find each other again. I promise you, we will. Will you believe in me one last time?"

"It's against my better judgment, but then I never did have good judgment," the man who would come to live for two centuries answered, then turned his head to look down at the grave once more and wiped away the tears that fell down his cheeks. "I have nothing left. And you've been nothing, but good to me. I'd be a fool to say no. If helping you gives me a few more years with Liam, then leads me to having you in my life… If helping you allows me to become the man you believe me to be, I would give my life here and now."

Being unable to resist, Emma pulled his head to hers and kissed him tenderly while she held his face in her hands. This moment between them lasted only a minute before he was the first to pull away, then stood back onto his feet and reached out his hand for her to take hold of so she could stand again as well.

Killian smiled at her feeling stunned and nearly breathless, then he uttered, "Like I said before, you're… you're amazing. Let's get you home."

The Kingdom of Longbourn…

After Silvermist used her fairy magic to transport Emma, David, and Killian to the village surrounding Longbourn's Castle, Killian looked around him with surprise, then spoke in frustration saying, "Of all the kingdoms… the King of Longbourn is in possession of this wishing star we seek?"

"This is your homeland, isn't it?" Emma asked when she turned her head to look over at him, recognizing the look of sadness on his face.

"Aye," he replied quietly. "But I no longer really have a home. I haven't for a very long time. We were just here only days before you and your father arrived. Silver was called here by the King for some perilous voyage, while we gathered supplies. This is where I cost Liam his chance to become an officer within the King's Navy."

The Savior took his hand as she responded, "And it's where your real future will begin again."

She quickly let go of him, then continued, "We need to try to find out where your King is keeping the wishing star. Somehow… we need to find a way into the castle. Do you have any ideas?"

"Actually, I think I might have an idea," David answered. "Silvermist said that people have come from all over to gain from its wish. I may not be a prince for about two hundred years, but I always carry with me the ring King George gave me when I pretended to be his son and my brother, as a reminder of how I became the man I am today. George's family crest is engraved within the stone and luckily for us, his family goes back this far. This King would surely recognize it and perhaps he would grant us an audience."

"Even if that's true, how would we even ask to get a moment to see the gem that holds the wishing star?" his daughter asked.

It was then that the Silver Fairy suddenly appeared again as she flew down before them and replied, "Perhaps I might be able to help you more than I believe after all. I realized after I used my magic to transport you here, that it was wrong of me to send you into the unknown without a way to succeed. Besides, what I was doing before is obsolete if you do manage to change the future to the way it is meant to be. I failed to be there for Killian and his brother a long time ago. By helping him and people he cares about now, perhaps it's a small way of making up for my own mistake."

Killian sincerely responded, "Believe me, you've already done that."

"Allow me to do this too," Silvermist answered. "But I can't fight the guards who are protecting the wishing star for you. I'm not… I can locate it for you. Getting in and getting close enough to make your wish will be up to you. Just be careful."

"Thank you," David replied, then the three of them stood back and waited for the fairy to return to them after she flew off to do as she said she would.

When she returned, Emma, Killian, and David followed the fairy as she walked them through the crowds of people entering the castle after she changed their clothes so that they wouldn't stick out among everyone else. Thankfully for them, the King and Queen were distracted and busy tending to their duties, allowing them to slip in and go unnoticed despite that they were being guided by a fairy.

They disappeared into the crowd, then climbed the stairs leading up to the tallest tower that overlooked the entire kingdom, where the magnificent gem was on display, though heavily guarded by armed guards per the King's orders. Once they came to the top of the stairs, two of the guards standing outside of the room down the corridor immediately halted the visitors as one of them asked them to state their business.

The soldier looked between them while he stated, "All of you need to turn back around and return from wherever you came from. No one is allowed to enter this room without the King or Queen being present."

David slowly stepped forward as he pulled the small pouch he wore on his belt and took out the ring he spoke of earlier bearing King George's crest, then responded, "Forgive us for not requesting to see the wishing star we've heard so much about with your King first. I am Prince James from a far off kingdom. And my sister and I have come a very long way despite her being ill, along with our most loyal guard and the Silver Fairy, my sister's Fairy Godmother. We were hoping to wish for her to be cured. If not, it'll only be a matter of days before she dies. Please, all we ask is for a moment."

"You must speak with the King," the second guard answered coldly. "But I doubt he will permit you to enter. That star's wish… belongs to him and he would never allow someone to use it to help themselves without getting what he wants in return. Besides, none of you look as though you're pure of heart. Now leave, or we will have all of you arrested."

"Not today you won't," Emma retorted and suddenly raised her hands as she used her powers to render each of the guards unconscious, then to open the door before them so they could enter the room where the gem was on display within the center of the room and well protected by magic to keep thieves from stealing it.

Upon feeling the spell used, Silvermist said in concern, "This magic was created by a witch. I can feel its dark force. The King must look to whoever she is to help him gain more and more power over the surrounding kingdoms. Longbourn has been thriving, while others are suffering and I never knew why until now."

Emma looked over at her worryingly as she asked, "Can you break through her power?"

"Sadly I cannot," the fairy replied. "Even my power is not strong enough. But if anyone can, it's you. I heard the Dark One speak of you as a Savior. If it's true, then surely your magic is more powerful than that which surrounds the star. Besides, once you begin, this witch will know something is wrong. I must find her and keep her busy so you can succeed. I truly hope that you do. I wish you well."

"You can do this, Emma," David responded confidently after the Silver Fairy vanished to protect them, then the Prince stepped back with Killian as his daughter raised her hands to summon her powers once more.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before more of the King's soldiers suddenly stormed into the tower and both Killian and David immediately stood between them and Emma while she continued to break down the witch's dark magic. The Prince quickly handed his friend his sword as he had given it to Liam during their fight against the pirates, then raised his gun and fired a shot to kill the first man who charged them with his own blade drawn and raised.

Killian quickly joined in the battle and clashed swords with two more of the King's men when they also attacked, while David struck down another as he attempted to kill Killian from behind, then grabbed the man's sword to continue to fight the rest of them. Though the two men were outnumbered by the soldiers, they refused to stand down.

All of a sudden, a burst of power forced the remaining men to the ground and out cold when Emma turned her magic on them to help her father and the man she loved as they were about to be overpowered, then weakly collapsed to the floor herself. David rushed to her as he knelt down in front of her to make sure that she was alright.

She looked up at him when he laid his hands over the sides of her face and then spoke up saying, "I'm okay. Just a little tired. The witch's magic is down. Get the wishing star. Let's go home."

Her father rose back to his feet and worryingly reached out to take the gem, then knelt down again while he handed it over to the Savior as David stated, "This wish needs to come from you. If either of us are pure of heart it's you."

"Thank you, Emma," Killian whispered as he dropped the sword in his hand, keeping his eyes solely on the woman who gave him a reason to hope for a better future, while she turned away from the stone in her hands to look into his. "I promise, I will try to be the man you believe me to be."

"That will be enough," Emma answered with sincerity, then David raised his hand out to him for Killian to grasp, then shook it in gratitude for all he's done for them. "I'm coming back to you, Killian."

Then without any more hesitation, the Savior grasped the wishing star within both of her hands and pleaded, "I wish… I wish for my father and me to return home to our time within the same moment we fell into the portal. So that all will be returned to the way things were and are meant to be."

Barely a second passed when a wave of magic suddenly burst from within the gem, then she and David could both feel the star's magic flow over them as Killian and the room where they had been kneeling upon the floor slowly faded until all they could see was a blinding golden light surrounding them. When the portal finally vanished, Emma and David found themselves back in Storybrooke standing where Zelena had carved the symbols for the time portal into as they saw Mary Margaret and Robin upon the ground at Regina's feet within the old barn, while the three heroes stared at them in shock after their sudden reappearance.

David immediately raced to wife and pulled her up into his arms, while Emma smiled as she released a cry of relief until she suddenly remembered the last moment she saw her Killian from this time, then spun around to look for him with a glimmer of fear that her wish wasn't able to restore everything back to the way things were before they disappeared. She found him still lying wounded and unconscious from Zelena's first attack against the heroes days ago though it was only moments for those who had remained in their own time, as the witch stood over him.

Emma screamed Killian's name, then raised her hands while power sparked from within them as she glared at Zelena and cried angrily, "Get the hell away from him!"

The Savior didn't hesitate as she magically thrust Zelena back through the air, causing the wicked woman to crash roughly on the ground only feet away from Regina, then Emma ran over to Hook and knelt over him while she carefully turned him over and lifted his body up against her chest so that she could heal him.

"It looks like you won't be making Hook or anyone pay for ruining your plans once again after all, Sis," Regina sneered as she swiftly magiced a new cuff around her sister's wrist like she wore before the Author has removed it for her, then callously pulled the witch back to her feet and held her between herself and Robin when he moved to stand beside the woman he loved in order to help her. "Come on, it's back to your prison cell for you. And this time you won't escape."

"How is he?" Charming finally asked out of concern for the friend he had gotten to know a whole lot more in the course of the last few days while he and Mary Margaret approached their daughter and Killian as she continued to hold him, waiting fearfully for him to awaken.

Killian began to come to and when he raised his head away from Emma's shoulder in order to see into her eyes, she laughed once again as relief washed over her, then quickly kissed him until she pulled back to look into his eyes as well while she replied, "He's going to be just fine. He's a survivor."

The man who lived for two hundred years once more looked at the woman he loved strangely as she wept for him, yet he saw her relief through her sadness, then he responded, "Of course I am, love. Did you doubt I would be?"

"For a little while there… yes," the Savior answered sadly as she gently began to caress his cheek and continued to stare deeply into his eyes, then rested her head against his own. "I'm just so happy you proved me wrong and was strong enough to keep fighting. You're every bit the man I believe you are, just as you promised you would be."

"I don't exactly understand what's come over you, Swan…" Killian replied to her in confusion, as she simply wrapped her arms around him again and held him even more tightly than before. "But I won't ever stop trying to be the man you deserve. I love you."


	25. Chapter 25

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twenty-Five

When Regina and Robin returned with Zelena to the prison cells below the hospital to lock her away again, the former Evil Queen waved her hand over her sister and over the surrounding room in order to check for the taser Isaac had left for her to escape with, as well as anything else Zelena might have used, or could, to break free again. The taser was still within the pocket of the shawl she was wearing and the Wicked Witch was defeated, as there were no more surprises up her sleeves, figuratively or otherwise.

Zelena yanked herself away from her sister's and the archer's hold on her, then spun around while she spoke up coldly saying, "You may have defeated me again, but I won't ever stop trying to take you heroes down. If you seriously think this is it…"

Regina cut her off as she interrupted, "Save your threats, Zelena. We know them all and we're sick of hearing them. Emma and David found their way back home from whatever adventure they fell into, just like she and Hook had done the first time around. And you know as well as we do that that's no easy feat."

"Just out of curiosity, what exactly was your back up plan going to be?" Robin asked Zelena as she turned around and sat upon the cot, then backed up into the corner farthest away from the two heroes.

"What does it matter to you?" she answered curtly. "You stopped me. Or Emma did. I was going to make her pay for stopping me from using the portal myself. At least the first time I was able to send my spirit through into the time she and Hook fell into, but the best I could accomplish was killing your precious wife to make myself whole once again."

Robin attempted to move towards Zelena to lash out against her for bringing up his dead wife until Regina held him back to keep him from doing something he's regret, while Zelena smiled as she continued, "I was going to hold the pirate as my prisoner until Emma managed to return so that I could kill him in front of her. I expected the Savior and her father would find their way back. I just didn't expect it to be so quickly."

The archer glared at her as he responded, "I'm sure that it wasn't so quick for them."

"No… you're probably right about that," the witch replied, then turned her head to glare up at Regina again. "Then, if Emma and David didn't return, I thought I would ransom Hook's life. But not for money of course. A life for a life. I thought I'd see if you would be willing to trade your life for his, sis. Would you be willing to give your life to save another villain whom deep down you truly hate?"

"I don't hate him and I don't hate you," the younger woman answered sincerely. "I wish things could be different between us, Zelena. But you're the only one hanging onto your hate. If you would just allow us to help you, you would have a chance at winning your happy ending the same as the rest of us. And you would be that much happier for earning it the right way. You don't need the Author's or Rumplestiltskin's help. They will only screw you in the end. Trust me, I know this far better than even you do. Goodbye, sis. Don't worry, you and your child will be well taken care of. The more you act like a model prisoner, the better you'll be treated. Think on that."

Within the Charmings' loft…

Later that evening, David was sitting on their couch with his son in his arms as he worked on putting Neal to sleep for the night. Mary Margaret was up on her feet in the kitchen as she worked on making her husband dinner after he had mentioned he wanted to make himself and Emma an extravagant meal for dinner that night, not really going into much detail as to why other than that they hadn't had more than poorly tasting stew, stale bread, and a few other things that barely filled their stomachs. However, his wife happily offered to cook for him so that he could hold their son.

When he finally laid the sleeping boy down in his crib, David walked over to stand beside the woman he loved as he laid his hand over hers to stop her from cutting the vegetables for the salad she was making on the cutting board in front of her, then took her face within his hands and leaned in to kiss her tenderly. She happily reciprocated and wrapped her arms around him until he finally pulled himself away, looking down at his feet as he did so and Mary Margaret could tell that something was troubling him very deeply.

Finally she felt it was time to ask him what happened to them while he and his daughter were somewhere in time, not wanting to do so until she felt he was ready to talk about it, then she laid her hand over his and said, "It's clear that where you wound up was very difficult for you and Emma. But you know you can tell me anything. Whatever you might have changed for us in this time, were you able to make things right?"

The Prince looked at her worryingly as he responded, "That's just it… I'm not really sure. I mean, Hook is here and everything looks like it's been returned to normal, but I don't know if I can really be sure since I didn't really know Hook all that well before we fell into his past because I haven't made that much of an effort to."

"Wait… you wound up Hook's past?" his wife asked strangely, then pulled him along with her into the living area so that they could talk more comfortably and without the distractions of food. "How did that happen? I take it that Emma was thinking of him as you fell through the portal?"

"She thinks so," David replied. "We found ourselves in an old sea port that I didn't recognize. We figured we would find a ship to take us to the Enchanted Forest so that we could track down Rumplestiltskin just as Emma and Hook had done before when they fell through time, but once we found a Captain who would take us there, we discovered the bastard was a slave master… Hook's slave master. It turns out that before he was a pirate and even a lieutenant within the King's Navy along with his brother, Hook grew up in slavery. Believe me, you have no idea the amount of pain and suffering he endured throughout his life. After everything we learned about him, and forced upon him even more since we arrived and messed things up for him, I'm no longer surprised by him becoming a pirate and villain. But I am impressed he's been able to become a hero. Not because I didn't think he had it in him, but because beneath all of his hate and pain, he's still a good man, Mary Margaret. And he almost died because of us. We saved him, but we ended up getting his brother killed, years before he was ever meant to. If that didn't change… if the wishing star we used to try to make things right and return to the moment we fell into Zelena's portal in the first place didn't correct everything…"

His wife then laid her finger over his lips to keep him from continuing, then she whispered, "If things didn't go back to exactly the way things were before you and Emma disappeared, then we will deal with the consequences whatever they may be and we will help Hook in whatever way we can. When he and Emma arrive, we can talk to them, though I'm sure that she's talking to him right now. Everything will be fine, David. You'll see. Now, tell me more. Seeing as Rumplestiltskin didn't become the Dark One until after Hook had become a pirate, did you meet the man who was before him?"

David nodded and stated, "His name was Zoso. You're never going to believe what happened. After the ship set sail…"


	26. Chapter 26

Coming Back to You

Chapter Twenty-Six

Over two hundred years ago in Killian's past…

 _"My ship has never been in finer hands," Liam Jones stated proudly as he looked straight on at Killian while he stood upon the top of gangplank of the Jewel of the Realm about to board his ship._

 _"Aye, Captain," the young leftenant replied as the man in charge stepped onboard their ship. "We stand ready to receive the King's orders."_

 _Their Captain called out firmly to the men shouting, "To your stations!"_

 _The crewmen all answered indistinctly, "Aye, aye!"_

 _"When the King summoned me, I knew there was only one man I could trust to navigate this difficult journey…" Liam continued to speak to Killian as they shook hands and then walked together to the upper deck. "My little brother."_

 _"Perhaps you mean younger brother," Killian responded with a sigh._

 _When the Captain opened his satchel, he pulled out a treasure given to the brothers from the King himself and then responded, "A gift to commemorate our latest voyage together."_

 _His younger brother took the gift within his hands as he said, "A sextant. You always were the sentimental type."_

 _"Look closer, brother," Liam replied as Killian observed the sextant more closely as was asked of him. "I've never seen markings like this. To what strange land are we headed?"_

 _"I'm under orders not to say until we arrive," the Captain answered, then turned his back to him as he made his way to stand at the ship's wheel to begin their voyage._

 _Killian tried to object out of concern as he called out, "But, brother…"_

 _However Liam cut him off before the younger Jones could finished as he continued once more, "This is the mission of our dreams. A mission that will bring feasts to the kingdom and glory to the Jones brothers."_

 _"A hero's journey," Killian responded with pleasure and yet true humility, having never believed such a feat for him was possible until now. "That is indeed good form, brother."_

Present day Storybrooke…

While David left to return home with Mary Margaret and Regina left with Robin and Zelena, Emma walked through the woods alongside Killian, not wanting to leave his side so long as she was unsure that he was truly alright and that his past had went on the same as it did before in fear just as her father was that they hadn't righted all of their wrongs. Plus, she missed her Killian so deeply that she didn't want to let go of him any time soon. While Killian was still unsure of what had her so spooked, he was happy to be with her as they walked hand in hand.

"So, love… Are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or will I have to keep on pestering you until you finally give in?" he finally asked after they had walked without speaking until they made their way down to the harbor again, while she gripped his arm tighter and then stopped walking once she moved around to stand before him. "I promise, you can tell me anything, Emma. No matter what you think you might have done. I know that something's wrong. Please, tell me what's bothering you. I only want to help."

When she reached up to caress his cheek like she had done earlier inside the barn, she stared into his eyes while whispered nervously, "You're here. I'm just so relieved that you're here and that's all I really need right now. I was just so afraid that I was going to… that I had lost you."

He looked at her in confusion as he replied, "I don't understand. Is there a reason why I wouldn't be? I told you a long time ago, I would never leave you no matter what comes. And I thought that by me trading my ship for you so we could be together again, even if I did get the Jolly Roger back, that you would know I truly meant it. What have I done to make you doubt me? Does this have something to do with our conversation earlier?"

"Nothing," Emma immediately answered as she pulled his head in closer so she could kiss him and then laid her head against his. "Oh God, Killian… you didn't do anything wrong. It was all me. After you were knocked unconscious by Zelena, my father and me were forced through her time portal. We didn't just defeat her with a few flicks of our wrists and a little bit of magic."

"Are you both alright?" the man who loved her asked in worry as he laid his only hand on her own cheek, then pulled away the long, yellow hair that had fallen over face with his hook.

She smiled as she responded, "Stop being so impossibly empathetic and just… perfect. I am afraid I messed up again, like I had done when you and I fell into my parents' past. Only this time it wasn't their past I screwed up. It was yours, and… Liam's."

Killian pulled his head away and then looked into her eyes with fear in his until he asked nervously, "Are you saying you actually met Liam? But that's not… If you had, you would have had to have fallen…"

"Back when you both were still trapped under Captain Silver's command, when you were still a…" she continued to try to explain until he abruptly cut her off as well.

"A slave?" he stated angrily, though she knew that his anger wasn't actually geared towards her, but himself. "No. No, you can't possibly know about that. Those were the worst years in my life, Emma. I never intended for you to find out about the kind of man I was so long ago. It's bad enough you knew me when I was still a pirate and a villain. I'm amazed you can care about me despite that man I was. But knowing that you saw me at an even lower point in my life than even then… You don't understand just how much I wish I could forget those sixteen years in my life."

The Savior gripped his hand and hook tightly, then gently helped him to sit down upon the very spot where they were sitting to watch the horizon before they left to find her parents within the woods, before all the chaos had begun, and took his face in both of his hands to try to calm him down as she replied, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Killian. Nothing. If anything, I am even more amazed by the man you've become than ever before. You've always been a good man. You just buried it so deeply and I understand why you did it. I mean… I've always understood it, but it's no wonder why what Rumplestiltskin did to you pushed you ever the edge and made you become a villain. Anyone would have fallen, Killian. I want you to know that out of everything we learned about your past, everything we went through together, it hasn't changed my feelings for you at all, except it made me care come to care about you even more deeply. You protected me and Dad at great risk to yourself even though you didn't know us. I will forever be grateful."

Killian felt even more confused while he spoke again saying, "I don't recall any of this. If you were as much in my past as you say, how do I not remember? How could I forget ever meeting you?"

"Because to get back here to our time, I wished on a wishing star to return home and asked for your life to be restored to the way it was before I messed it up like I did with my parents," Emma answered sadly. "I heard your voice in my head as I tried to explain to your past self why I couldn't stay. And told my father why we had to make sure you would never remember us being there. If we had known you would have been on that ship when we looked for someone to get us to the Enchanted Forest like before… Believe me, I would have looked for another way. You once told me that you wanted to know about my beginnings. I feel the same about you too, Killian. I just never wanted to find out this way. I hoped you would tell me about it in time and I believe you were trying to a few days… an hour ago for you before we were interrupted."

"Honestly, I'm not sure what I was going to say," he deceptively responded. "My past is dark and full of pain, love. I didn't want to burden you with knowing any more than you already do. But then you were brave enough to share yours with me despite your own pain and fears. It's only fair…"

The woman Killian loved so deeply leaned in to kiss him before he could finish, then she pulled her head back so she could look into his eyes again and replied sincerely, "You can tell me anything or everything only when you're ready to. I have always known you've struggled with your past. But you needn't hide it from me out of fear of burdening me with your pain and guilt. No matter who you were then and what you did… I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me."

Killian smiled and answered, "So long as you'll have me, I'm never leaving you either. If there's a question pressing on your mind after all you've been through, ask me anything you wish to know."

"I only have one question I need to know," she nervously responded as he took her hand in his own. "I'm worried that I might have changed your past beyond what my wish was able to repair. I need to know I've made it right. You did still join the Royal Navy along with your brother, didn't you?"

"Aye," he replied strangely. "Liam was my Captain and I was his Leftenant. Our last voyage was meant to bring glory to the Jones brothers. It was meant to prove we've truly escaped our past and became men we could be proud of. In the end, I lost him and then became a pirate. Hardly the glory we hoped for."

Emma laid her head against his chest as if to comfort him and Killian wrapped his arms around her, then she answered, "Your brother's proud of you, Killian. I don't just suspect he would be, I know he is. He told me. Liam truly loved you."

Killian lifted her head so she could see his love for her in his eyes and kissed her lips tenderly, then he responded, "You've given this old pirate back something I lost long ago. I'm happy you found your way home to me. I truly will always love you, Swan."

The End


	27. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have read and have written reviews for my story! They are much appreciated. I'm honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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